Alastair Cook is in line to be unveiled as England's new 50-overs captain at a press conference at Lord's on Thursday morning, amid reports that Andrew Strauss has decided that the recent World Cup marked the natural moment to hand over the reins in the shorter form of the game.
Cook was not selected for England's World Cup squad despite an immense haul of 766 runs in their historic Ashes victory in Australia. However, he has long been regarded as Strauss's likeliest successor in both forms of the game, and impressed in the role in Bangladesh 14 months ago, when he stood in for Strauss during his pre-Ashes break from touring.
On that trip, Cook made scores of 64, 60 and 32 in a 3-0 victory in the ODIs, before anchoring England's twin Test wins with a pair of centuries at Chittagong and Dhaka. Despite the relative paucity of the opposition, the challenge he faced in unfamiliar conditions was immense, not to mention the ignominy he would have faced had he failed to complete a clean sweep of five international wins out of five.
Despite some doubts about the speed and power of Cook's strokeplay, Strauss's departure from the limited-overs scene creates a vacancy for an opener who can be relied upon to bat through an innings, and besides, with a powerful cut and an aggressive slog-sweep, Cook himself will believe he has the ability to build on an ODI record of 858 runs at 33.00, with one century against India in 2007.
Speculation has been rife about Cook's possible elevation, ever since England's ten-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in Colombo in March. "Since the World Cup people have been asking me this question," Cook said last month. "At the moment Andrew Strauss is England captain. I don't crave seeing him giving it up. I would love the opportunity to be captain if it comes off but if it doesn't come up then so be it."
"There is never an ideal time to take over," he added. "I know that. But I like challenging myself and if the opportunity arises in the near future I would like to try it, but if selection goes the other way and they choose another captain if Straussy retires then so be it."
Strauss, meanwhile, appears to have decided that, at the age of 34 and with four years to go until the 2015 World Cup, the time is right to follow the example of many leading cricketers of recent times, and retire from ODIs to concentrate on Tests. A tough home summer against Sri Lanka and India is looming, but the long-term goal is a repeat of his home and away Ashes wins, with the next series coming back-to-back in 2013-14.
The news comes in the same week that Andy Flower confirmed he would be staying on as England coach, with the express aim of becoming the No. 1 side in world cricket. It is understood that he has received a significant pay rise along with assurances that he will receive a greater say in team planning, after voicing his criticism of England's Ashes and World Cup itinerary.
Assuming Cook's elevation is rubber-stamped at Lord's on Thursday, England will almost certainly be looking at three different captains in each form of the game, with Paul Collingwood's role as Twenty20 captain also under scrutiny following his dramatic loss of form during the winter. Cook, like Strauss, is not considered to be part of England's 20-over plans.
No comments:
Post a Comment