I’ll miss Cook the captain... but it’s great he can be part of future under a fresh young regime
Such a genuine and respected man can only help young Joe Root bring a different energy to the job of skipper
ALASTAIR COOK called me on Sunday to tell me in person and explain his decision to stand down as England captain. It was really nice that he called me but I have to admit I was really disappointed he had made that call because I thrived as a bowler and had some great memories playing under him as captain.
I completely understand his reasons but I’ve really enjoyed playing under him and we’ve had a lot of success together down the years.
I know how proud he has been to captain England and I know he has had sleepless nights over the past few weeks as he has agonised over this decision. But when he explained his reasons for standing down it made a lot of sense. He can now concentrate on going back to scoring tons of runs for England without the stress and strain of captaincy.
I really respect the decision. It’s typical of the man because it’s selfless and based on wanting the team to move forward. He didn’t feel he could move the team forward as captain because of how tired he felt.
I didn’t get any real sense that he was going to call time on the captaincy at the end of the India series. Any father who leaves a new-born baby at home and goes away for 11 weeks is going to find it an emotionally tough experience. I’m not suggesting it affected his captaincy but that would challenge any human being.
He was a bit emotional at the end of the Test series but I thought that was because we had collapsed in a heap and he was frustrated by that.
He has done the right thing by not making an emotional decision and he has taken his time to think this through rationally. Not everyone has that luxury and I’m pleased he has taken it. Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss both stood down straight after Test matches and, while I’m not saying they made emotional decisions, Cooky was in a position to take all the emotion out of it and logically assess what is best for the team and his own family life.
Cook was a captain who led from the front and would never back away from a challenge. Not many captains have two Ashes victories and away series wins in India and South Africa on their records.
People forget that in terms of big series wins, he actually has more as a captain than Vaughany, who is rightly remembered as a great England captain. Mentally he is a very strong man and you could see that with the way he rode out some pretty ridiculous attacks from certain parts of the media during his career. He has dealt with some really tough issues for English cricket but come out with enormous success and unbelievable respect from those he has captained.
The biggest testament I can give him is that I have never come across anyone in a pub or on the street who has met Cooky in person and has a bad word to say about him. He is courteous and has time for people. A genuinely good bloke who I’ll always consider to be a great friend.
I’ve got huge respect for him as a man and I’ll still be swapping cricket stories with him over a glass of red wine in 20 years’ time. That’s what sport is about.
And the best news for England fans is that he is not going anywhere. He is not retiring. He is hungry for more runs and, at the age of 32, he still has time on his side as an opening batsman. Numbers wise, he is England’s most successful batsman of all-time and physically he is still one of the fittest players in the team.
He’s determined to open a new chapter in his career and that can only be good for English cricket.
So what next? The opportunity to captain England doesn’t come around very often and it’s something every player would love to do. Of course I’m honoured to be included in a group of players Straussy and [chairman of selectors] Jimmy Whitaker consider to be captaincy contenders.
But for me, in the best interests of the team in the medium and long term, I believe a younger, modern-day captain would be the way to go. Joe Root looks just the man for the job for me. He has not had a lot of captaincy experience so he will have to learn on the job, but he wouldn’t be the first England captain to have to do that.
The whole point of having a new captain is so they can bring a different type of energy and ideas to the group. Joe is the best player in the team and he’s in a position where his game can cope with the pressures of captaining England. He has played all three formats and coped really well for a period of time now and I don’t see
why that would be affected by the captaincy. Yes, you have to attend more meetings and you’re involved in more conversations about injuries, form and players’ welfare. But that shouldn’t be a reason to miss certain games.
He has settled a lot since he has been in the team and his home life has changed a lot now he’s a father. He’s probably a lot calmer than he used to be but that comes with age.
One thing is for certain, he has played more than 50 Tests now and is a high-class performer. If there’s going to be a time to test him with the captaincy it would be now, in my opinion. He’s a settled member of the team and consistently performs in big series so, if not now, when?