Alastair Cook steps down as England captain

[Shri]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/07/alastair-cook-england-captain-right-time-resign

Alastair Cook said he felt left “out to dry” by the England and Wales Cricket Board over the Kevin Pietersen affair three years ago while his decision to stand down as Test captain was due to the realisation that a new voice was needed in the dressing room.

“It was obviously a big part of my captaincy,” he told Sky Sports. “I felt like it wasn’t handled particularly well by the ECB. I know I was the lightning rod for it, every person thought it was my decision. I felt I bore the brunt of that, unfairly in my personal opinion.

“I felt a little bit let down by the ECB by that one period, where they kind of let me out to dry a little bit. But that’s all gone now. It’s part and parcel of the challenge of being a captain. I can’t say now I have any regrets. I’ve tried, whether I’ve got it right or wrong, to do what was the best for English cricket at that time.”

 

[OverratedSanity]

Nice. ECB handled that whole episode horribly.

 

[mackembhoy]

Not only fans apparently, looks like cricket writers can get fooled too........



Who is the world's best batsman? Ricky Ponting says it's Virat Kohli

Did have a little chuckle when I read that.

Well that 'journalist' obviously never bothered to watch any of the tests. Just saw the scorecards and result and went yep, I'll regurgitate some crap and nobody will care.

It's quite bad how many just do this. Putting out blatantly incorrect statements, which are then repeated as gospel.

The media/ex pros have got people wrongly selected for England with this type of stupid soundbite. Michael Vaughan did it superbly for one useless individual.

 

[Jono]

Awesome that Cook is calling out the ECB for its **** handling of the KP saga. Fair play.

 

[Shri]

Yeah, good on Cook.

 

[Bijed]

Yup, good to hear him saying this. Hope the ECB don't get all petty and try and find some way of punishing him for it.

 

[91Jmay]

That would involve the ECB making a good decision so that is unlikely

 

[91Jmay]

To be fair to Kohli he has basically exclusively captained in India + sub continent hasn't he apart from Australia where it was a hiding to nothing and he batted like a God? I am not convinced being aggressive is a good move in sub continent, much better to keep it tight and let Ashwin rip sides apart.

 

[OverratedSanity]

To be fair to Kohli he has basically exclusively captained in India + sub continent hasn't he apart from Australia where it was a hiding to nothing and he batted like a God? I am not convinced being aggressive is a good move in sub continent, much better to keep it tight and let Ashwin rip sides apart.

Yep true. Needs to be aggressive when he gets the chance overseas though. That's one area Dhoni failed spectacularly. Those moments when you have the opposition in real trouble and don't go for it... very frustrating as a viewer. Especially since our overseas victories are so rare.

 

[91Jmay]

Yep, Dhoni was a dreadful overseas captain for largely that reason.

 

[ImpatientLime]

can't wait for the breaking news that cook has been dropped by the ECB due to a lack of trust.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Nice one Cook, the more people realise the ECB are ****ing scum the better.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Awesome that Cook is calling out the ECB for its **** handling of the KP saga. Fair play.

Bit late though, if he had called them out sooner when he was still captain i'd have thought more of him.

 

[ImpatientLime]

Bit late though, if he had called them out sooner when he was still captain i'd have thought more of him.

would be utterly reckless throwing his future as captain into doubt with the ecb having no clear succession plan.

 

[Bijed]

Bit late though, if he had called them out sooner when he was still captain i'd have thought more of him.

Assuming you mean whilst still captain but somewhat after the event, yeah, though I can see such a move not being universally popular (and I don't mean just the ECB not liking it).

Doing it too early (before the 2015 Ashes, for example, as I think that's when things properly settled down) would have been unnecessary stirring and could rightly have been criticised as him focussing too much on his reputation, when he should have just been getting on with the job (I'm aware it wouldn't be quite that simple)

At least he's said it whilst he's still playing, though, rather than waiting until he's retired then just putting it in his autobiography.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Yeah, as a centrally contracted player he's still ultimately employed by the ECB, so it's a least a little nibble at the hand that feeds.

My take is that Cook probably thinks Pietersen is a bit of a **** but would've been ok with him playing on. Personally I'm sure Cook is single minded enough to wade through the attendant excreta KP seems to trail in his wake, but the powers that be (Flower and/or Strauss and/or Moores) were concerned with the effect he might've had on the more emotionally delicate members of the dressing room.

From the outside Cook seems a captain who liked to rule by consensus rather than by whipping it out to see whose is biggest.

 

[GIMH]

Also wouldn't have what seems to be the defining moment of his captaincy career for almost everyone.. You seriously think he would have survived the 5-0 down under if he hadn't had credit from the India series?

I already acknowledged that we don't win in India without KP

 

[honestbharani]

And my point is we would have had this thread after the 5-0 than now if it wasn't for that series.

 

[Jono]

Bit late though, if he had called them out sooner when he was still captain i'd have thought more of him.

Interesting. It would have been ballsy.

Cook isn't a strong enough character or personality to have stood up to the ECB in 2014 imo. I think he did what he believed was best for the overall team atmosphere at the time by not saying anything publicly. Who knows what he said behind closed doors.

He's not completely innocent of the KP fiasco but he's nowhere near as culpable as ECB

 

[grecian]

Interesting. It would have been ballsy.

Cook isn't a strong enough character or personality to have stood up to the ECB in 2014 imo. I think he did what he believed was best for the overall team atmosphere at the time by not saying anything publicly. Who knows what he said behind closed doors.

He's not completely innocent of the KP fiasco but he's nowhere near as culpable as ECB

Or indeed KP. It's really a minor footnote in Cooks Captaincy career, only obsessives would make it a defining point.

Anyway, was time to give it up I think. Hopefully he will carry on scoring runs, gawd we need someone too. Some great, good, middle, bad and embarrassing times, so not sure where I'd put him in the pantheon of capatains, but then it doesn't really matter what I think.