‘Sad’ Cook quits as England’s Test captain

ALASTAIR Cook resigned as the captain of the England Test side yesterday after a record 59 matches in the role, saying it was “a sad day” but the right decision for the team.

Yorkshire batsman Joe Root is the favourite to take over with an announcement expected in the next fortnight, as England build towards the Ashes in Australia at the end of the year.

Cook (pictured, AFP), England’s leading scorer in Tests with 11,057 runs, became captain in August 2012 and led his country to Ashes glory on home soil in 2013 and 2015 as well as series wins in India and South Africa.

“It’s been a huge honour to be England captain and to lead the Test team over the past five years,” Cook, 32, who intends to carry on playing Test cricket, said. “Stepping down has been an incredibly hard decision, but I know this is the correct decision for me and at the right time for the team.”

Cook’s decision to stand down follows England’s 4-0 series defeat in India at the end of last year, a result which put pressure on him to quit.

The England nd and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said a “proper process” had started to appoint nt a successor, with the team not in Test action again until July.

Cook, who o also led England in a record 69 one-day ne-day internationals between etween 2010 and 2014, is the country’s most cappedd Test skipper and has scored cored more Test centuries ries than any previous us captain. He was named Wisden Cricketericketer of the Year in n 2012 and International ational Cr i c k e t Co u n c i l World Test Captain in 2013.

He tendereded his resignation to ECB chairman Colin Graves onn Sunday.

“It’s a sad d day personally in many w a y s , b u t I want to thanknk ever yone I ’v e c aptained, al l the coaches and supp support staff and, of course, the England supporters and the Barmy ArmyArm who follow us home and awayaw and have given us unwaveringunwa support,” Cook ad added. “Playing for Engl landa re al l y i s a p r i v i l e g e a n d I hop hope to carry on as a Test p player, making a full contr contribution and helping the next England captain and the team howeverh I can.”

‘Once in a gener generation’

England’s director of cricket Andrew Strauss said Cook had made a “fantastic contribution”contribution and “deserves to be seen as one of o our country’s great captains”. “We now move o on with the process of appointing the right successor,” Strauss said. “We ex expect to be able to make an announce announcement before the team head to the WestWe Indies on 22nd February.”

A classically elegant left-handed opening batsman, the square-jawed Cook took charge of the England Test team following Strauss’s retirement from the game in August 2012.

In his first tour as captain he led England to a first series win in India in 28 years, hitting centuries in the first three Tests. His first Ashes series in 2013 ended in triumph and after a harrowing 5-0 whitewash in Australia in 2013-14, England regained the urn in 2015.

Cook oversaw a historic series win in South Africa in 2015-16 and last year England came within one win against Pakistan of topping the ICC Test rankings. He went 35 Test innings without a century between May 2013 and March 2015, but the milestones have continued to stack up.

He was the first England batsman to reach 10,000 and then 11,000 Test runs and sits 10th in the all-time list, 4,864 runs behind the record held by the great Sachin Tendulkar.