Cook rejects accusations of disrespect
• Stand-in captain says Shane Warne is wrong
• Andrew Strauss ‘needed rest’ during Bangladesh tour
“They look at me as a bit of a get-out,” Alastair Cook confided at Lord’s yesterday as he prepared to lead England’s Test team for the first time, on their tour of the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh.
Never fear, Cook was not talking about the England captaincy, nor was he conceding that once Andrew Strauss had made his contentious decision to take a break England simply had nowhere else to turn. His thoughts had turned to lambing, and the farm near Woburn in Bedfordshire where he and his girlfriend, Alice Hunt, had been up until 11 o’clock the previous night helping to bring new life into the world. When another birth is imminent, it is close to midnight and the frost is sharpening, the prospect of captaining England tends to be the last thing on your mind.
“We have just started off getting the sheep ready for lambing,” said Cook. “They are beginning to pop out. I have been doing it for about the last five years. I always tend to go when they get a bit busy. They look at me as a bit of a get-out.”
Asked about the secret of lambing, Cook had no doubts. “Small hands,” he said. The secret of captaincy might take a little longer to unravel, but there is no doubt that by the time England return from Bangladesh in late March they will know a lot more about his captaincy potential. At 25, he is about to be hustled into cricketing adulthood.
For all the criticism of Strauss’s decision to take a rest, against a Test side with such a weak record as Bangladesh it seems to be a win-win situation. Shane Warne called Strauss’s absence “disrespectful” to Test cricket, and a majority of former England captains have also expressed disquiet, if not in such damning terms. Cook, naturally, disagrees. “Straussy spent a huge amount of time making that decision,” he said. “In his mind, he was being proactive. There is a huge amount of cricket coming up, he thought he needed a rest and this is the best opportunity to do it. We have had three major series back-to-back and it has taken its toll.
“He is a hugely proud man and he feels this will benefit him in the long run. I think he can take credit that he and Andy [Flower, the coach] have got the dressing room in a state where Straussy feels he can leave it in safe hands. It gives me a lot of confidence that he had full belief in me. He knows in his heart that he has made the right decision for the benefit of himself and the team. If that is your instinct then you can rest easy.
But what of Cook? He had never felt in need of a break – “Straussy is a bit older than me,” he said jokingly – but if England do not brush aside Bangladesh in the three one-dayers and two Tests as predictably as expected, fatigue might take hold on a tour where a positive mental state is not easily maintained.
“The England captain’s role is a 24/7 job and I will find out in the next six weeks how big the role is,” he said. “This decision gives others chance to expand their roles as leaders and I think that because of that when Straussy comes back we will have a more rounded side. He has said he is always on the end of the phone, but he is very keen that I do it my way.”
Cook’s strong relationship with Flower, a former playing colleague at Essex, will help. The pair have had lengthy discussions about his approach, but Cook hopes that he will not be seeking too much advice when the tour begins for real. “We already have a friendly relationship from playing together and that has been really good to start off a captain-coach relationship. But once I get there, I have to do it my way.”
Quite what his way is no one really knows. Outside the dressing room he has seemed too bland to be a natural captain. That is one charge he needs to address. “All that matters to me in the next six weeks is that we play good cricket and win,” he said. “I am not bothered about how I sit for those looking from the outside. I know I have full support from the dressing room and that’s the most important thing. I am just looking at the next six weeks. If the selectors turn to me again two years down the line then that is fantastic. If not, I’m not about to lose sleep over it.”
Cook wants to put ’stamp’ on England
• Stand-in skipper not thinking about full-time role
• Cook wants to ‘put my stamp on the team’ in Bangladesh
The stand-in England captain Alastair Cook insists he is not looking at the tour of Bangladesh as an audition for securing the role on a permanent basis.
The opening batsman has taken the place of Andrew Strauss, who decided to miss the tour to take a break from cricket. Though Cook has been tipped as a future full-time captain for his country, he told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’m just looking at it as a six-week chunk. I’m genuinely excited and hopefully I can do a good job.”
The 25-year-old is also determined not to let the extra responsibility have an adverse effect on his game, as has happened with former national team captains.
He continued: “I’ve obviously been thinking about our team and how we can improve. It takes a bit of energy out of you but it’s exciting to put my stamp on the team.
“History suggests it does happen [a loss of form] but it’s up to me to use my experience to separate the two things. I’m confident I can do it but results will show.
“I’ve got to do it my way. I’ve got a really good relationship with [the England coach] Andy Flower – I played with him at Essex. We’re looking to take England forward in Bangladesh.”
Strauss’s decision to miss the trip, which begins next week with a series of matches in the Middle East before three one-day internationals and two Tests against Bangladesh, has caused controversy.
The former Australia spinner Shane Warne criticised the batsman this week, saying he had shown a “lack of respect for Test cricket”.
Cook, though, defended Strauss, saying: “It was a huge decision for Straussy, a very proactive one – he feels he needs a rest. He took a lot of time to make the decision. [The Australia captain] Ricky Ponting missed five one-dayers after the Ashes so I don’t think there’s that much difference.”
Cook is confident the tour will prove worthwhile, despite Bangladesh’s lowly Test ranking, and is already looking ahead to next year’s World Cup which will be shared among India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
“We’ve got to concentrate solely on our cricket. If we can play as well as in the last eight months, the results will take care of themselves,” he added. “It’s a tough place to go and play and we’ve got to focus on our performances. It’s a massive stepping stone towards the World Cup on the sub-continent.”
Warne: Strauss should be in Bangladesh
• Strauss has disrespected Test cricket, claims Australian
• ‘England captain’s loss may be Michael Carberry’s gain’
Shane Warne has accused the England captain Andrew Strauss of disrespecting Test cricket by resting for the tour of Bangladesh – and he has tipped Michael Carberry to take full advantage.
Warne believes appointing Alastair Cook as captain for the Tests in Chittagong and Mirpur next month could pose problems for England in terms of getting used to a new captaincy style. And after helping Carberry to get his career back on track at Hampshire, Warne hopes the 29‑year‑old can take advantage of Strauss’s absence and make it impossible for selectors to leave him out of the side next summer.
“When I heard that Andrew Strauss is being rested it just doesn’t sit right with me,” said Warne. “When I am captain I want to get the best out of my players. Maybe that means putting an arm around them or maybe it means giving them a kick up the backside.
“Alastair Cook might be completely different. He might want to treat everyone the same way. If I am captain of a side I want to stop my authority on a side.
“I think he [Cook] has been under pressure for his place in the side. He’s suddenly found himself, he’s made a hundred and now he is captain. What happens if Michael Carberry gets three hundreds and Alastair Cook gets a couple of runs. What happens then? Do you drop an England captain? I hope they [England] are not taking Bangladesh too easy because they can be quite strong,” he added. “What if they win the first Test? Does Strauss fly out for the second? I hope it’s not the start of a trend. It’s a lack of respect for Test cricket.
“It’s disappointing that the captain of England decides to have a rest from a Test series, I can’t comprehend that. Any time you represent your country it’s special and I cannot understand how you can rest your captain.
“Maybe a one-day game because you play 40 or 50 a year but you only play eight Test matches a year. It’s special. “He’s got a style of captaincy and a new skipper can’t be Andrew Strauss, he’ll do it his way. So suddenly the players think ‘how are we going to play under Alastair Cook?’”
Warne hopes Strauss’s loss is Carberry’s gain. “I hope he gets the nod and peels off a couple of hundreds,” he said. “Then what are they going to do? Leave Andrew Strauss out? Michael is a wonderful player and I had a lot to do with him down at Hampshire, where I was his captain for a few years. I saw a lot of good qualities and he just got better and better.”
Warne, himself dismissed as Australia’s vice-captain in 2000 and banned for a year in 2003 for breaching the ACB’s drug code when taking a banned diuretic, added: “The best thing about a captain is to be honest with your players, understand the players and get the best out of the group.”
Steve Harmison says Andrew Strauss is correct to miss England trips
• Fast bowler calls international cricket a ‘treadmill’
• Ottis Gibson’s move to West Indies is ‘England’s loss’
Steve Harmison believes that the England captain, Andrew Strauss, will benefit from missing the forthcoming trips to Dubai and Bangladesh.
Harmison, who said international cricket can be a “treadmill”, understands the Middlesex player’s decision. The 31-year-old Durham pace bowler signed a four-year contract with his county after being left out of the England squad which toured South Africa last year.
He told Sky Sports News: “I think the ECB [England and Wales Cricket Board] are looking at the future, which is the right move as I think [Strauss] will captain England for many years.
“I would like to see Andrew Strauss go [on tour] but I know the treadmill of international cricket. You need that break.”
Harmison added that the departure of Ottis Gibson from the England set-up would benefit West Indies. The ECB has begun the search for a new fast bowling coach after the Barbadian, who held the role for two years, took over as head coach of West Indies last week.
Harmison said: “The West Indies is a massive job but obviously it’s his dream job. Everyone wishes him well. We’ve lost a fine, fine bowling coach. I would love to see Ottis get the West Indies on track – I think it’s their gain and England’s loss.”