Alastair Cook has admitted he is considering his position as England's one day and Test Match captain. Asked if he saw himself carrying on as captain in both forms after another crushing defeat, this time by seven wickets at the Sydney Cricket Ground to seal a 3-0 capitulation in the Carlton Mid One Day Series, Cook was for the first time significantly ambivalent on his own future.
“I think we’re going to have to make a decision on that stuff and take stock after the next two games,” Cook said. “I think there will be a lot of changes. I think English cricket needs a bit of a change as well. Obviously the last few months we haven’t played the cricket we’re capable of doing and we have to look at the reasons why.”
Pressed on whether this meant he would be stepping down Cook replied: “It’s been two weeks since someone asked me that question and a lot’s happened in two weeks. We’ve kept losing games of cricket and I haven’t been able to turn it round.”
England are now on course to equal their all-time 10-match losing streak in international cricket in the next match in Perth, after what has been a continental-scale sporting humiliation that Cook admitted had been personally very wearing. "I wouldn't say it's been the most pleasant 48 hours for me. That's what comes with the territory when you lose games of cricket as captain. Losing in Australia when you've lost for three and half months it's not exactly a great place to be."
One thing Cook was clear on was his desire to remain part of the one day team. For all his recent travails he remains one of England’s more successful top order short form batsmen of recent years. “I want to be part of a successful one day team for England,” he said. “I feel I’m a good enough player to do that, my record suggests I can do it.”
Cook also confirmed he would not be taking a leave of absence now that England have lost the one day series, and given that a week from now he will be going home in any case as the tour reaches its Twenty20 end game. “I’ve got a job to do to try and turn this round and try to win one of these games. I’m competitive I leave everything out on the pitch. I wouldn’t ever question why I would play in the next two games.”
Should Cook decide to step down at the end of this series the most obvious replacement at one day level would be Eoin Morgan, who has looked a cut above the rest of England's top order in Australia, captained the team well last summer and has a refreshingly abrasive and shrewd cricketing brain. The Test team is another question altogether, with the lack of obvious alternatives perhaps having a bearing on any decision to retain Cook in the coming weeks.
If Cook's press conference at the SCG was a slightly painful affair it was made all the more poignant by the presence of Michael Clarke at the back of the room waiting to speak to the gathered media. When Clarke's turn came he was asked straight away if he felt any sympathy for England's beleaguered skipper. After a long pause he finally said: "…I don't think feeling sorry for an England captain is the right thing to feel.
Guardian Service
