India backlash awaits Giles in new lead role
ALASTAIR COOK used to regard Ashley Giles as a father figure when he entered the England set-up but they were jetting off to India last night very much as equals in the new management set-up. Andy Flower was a notable absentee as the one-day squad flew out of Heathrow for their five-match one-day series that will see former Warwickshire coach Giles elevated to his role as the national team’s limited-over coach, with the Zimbabwean remaining in overall charge. Cook almost sounded like he was referring to a marriage when talking of how ‘we will need to work hard at the relationship’ but he is confident theirs will be a happy union. ‘When I came into the squad Gilo was a slightly senior citizen and he was really good to me,’ said the England captain of the pair’s initial time together in Pakistan in late 2005. ‘He was kind of a dad and looked after a lot of the younger players. He has a fantastic coaching record and is a really good guy. ‘This is a bit like when we had three different captains, which I thought worked really well because of the energy they each brought.’ Despite the pre-Christmas triumph in the Test series in India, the next few weeks may not be the easiest introduction for the new jobshare arrangements, being in a country in which England have won just one 50-over match against the host country in the last 17 since 2002. Sachin Tendulkar may have stepped down from this format of the game but India are likely to be stronger in the short form for a trip that sees England play two warm-up matches in Delhi then five one-day internationals in more far flung destinations. Sharpened by the current encounters against Pakistan, India are unlikely to engage in the kind of rotation policy being employed by the tourists or field like they have just spilled out of the pub, which occasionally looked the case in the Tests. England are shorn of James Anderson, Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann, who have been rested ahead of the New Zealand tour, Jonny Bairstow on compassionate grounds and Stuart Broad, who will not be available until the fourth match because of his heel injury. Much responsibility will fall on the re-integrated Kevin Pietersen, who will be taking time off during the one-dayers that follow against the Kiwis. He has yet to sign an extension to his four-month central contract but England emphasised that is a formality that will be sorted out in the coming weeks. Patience is likely to be needed in assessing how the chain of command works out but it is an important phase for England’s one-day cricket as success in the Champions Trophy, which they are hosting this summer, is a major medium-term target. Cook said: ‘We are developing a squad of 15 or 16 players, which you need today. It will be a major challenge but then so was winning the Test series before Christmas.’