TOO MANY COOKS!
I knew I wasn’t skipper when Ben Stokes barked orders at me in the field
ALASTAIR COOK says he has ‘no regrets’ over giving up the England captaincy, but admits it came as a shock when Ben Stokes started ordering him about.
Cook had been so used to telling other people whether they were playing, when they were batting and where to field, it was a strange sensation no longer having that power.
Only once did he feel the pang of giving up the job that had meant so much, just before the toss as the new man Joe Root walked out in his blazer.
But after playing in his first Test for four years back in the ranks Cook revealed the game at Lord’s (below, with Moeen Ali) was enjoyable without so much mental pressure.
“It was different,” he admitted. “I forgot the thought and effort that went into things like selection.
“You are so stuck in it when you are captain that when you step back and just play you realise it is very different to being captain where the constant decision-making takes its effect.
“The shock was when the vicecaptain Ben Stokes told me to move fielding positions. That was when I realised that life was different.
“He told me to swap with Jimmy Anderson in a different position because he thought Jimmy would be better in that position. So not only did I have Jimmy gloating at me but Ben telling me where to move. “I am happy with my decision. The only bit was seeing Rooty walk down the stairs in his blazer and working out you will never do that again but I have done my bit. I gave everything to the role and I move on from it.” Despite scoring six hundreds for Essex before the game Cook was out cheaply first time around, but managed to grind out a tough 69 to contribute to England’s win in the second innings.
And with another 11 Tests to come between now and January expectations are high that Cook will churn out a significant number of runs to add to the 11,129 he has.
His bat sponsors have suggested that he is now ‘catching Sachin’ with Tendulkar leading the way on 15,921, but the former skipper insists he has no grand target.
“I don’t set targets, certainly not publicly and not many privately,” he added. “I’m a senior player at the top of the order, there to score runs and help drive things through in a different way.”
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