Okay, a few - probably a lot - of thoughts arising from this thread, because I don't want to clog it up by replying to lots of individual posts.
Firstly, on the captaincy - I think people fail to appreciate that the England job is completely different to the role of any other international skipper, even for the cricket mad population of India and, to a lesser extent, Australia. Why? Because it never ends - the fact that the English Season is out of synch with the seasons of the other nine Test playing nations means that the England skipper will be required for a four month home run every year and then one or more likely two stints of a couple of months on away tours. All the time, he will be barracked by the worlds most hostile press - yes, we seem to still like to kick our own in a way that no other country would countenance.
That means that it is a difficult job, and as I have stated elsewhere, it has been taken on by a series of successful batsmen who have each had a period of grace of about six months before the pressure caught up with their games - it happened to Hussain, Vaughan and Strauss and is now happening to Cook (if the dropped catches are not evidence then think how he used to wit out attacks that bowled full and tight to him). If he skippered like Virgil did, there would be an argument for taking the hit in batting productivity for his leadership qualities, but Cook has never seemed better than a guy given the job because there are limited other options.
I would replace him. From within the team, options would be Bell (no - too valuable with the bat, too diffident a character), Broad (no - has proved a lack of tactical acumen) and Anderson (actually not a bad choice now that we have Stokes to reduce his burden of overs). Pietersen would be a credible fourth option, and would actually be my choice were it not for the likely retirement of half the squad that would follow. All this being the case, it would not be madness to select a skipper from outside the starting XI - it worked for the Yarpies with Smith and the West Indians with Sammy, and for those worried that it smacks of England circa 1988 please bear in mind the sensible logical selection policies that have been put in place since and the level headed - and, lets be honest, cash heavy, management structure which supports them.
Who? I said Gale earlier semi jokingly, but actually don't think he would be a terrible call, at least as a stop gap for eighteen months whilst Root gets his had around international cricket and fame. He can bat, catch, and is a very good captain indeed - and I do not say that as a biased Yorkie, but as someone who was really impressed with his man management skills and ability to think outside the box when he took the job on. Of the other county skippers:
Too old - Collingwood, Yardy, Chapple, Trescothick, Key, Read, Peters
Nowhere near good enough - Mitchell, Troughton
Foreign - Sarwan, Smith, Rodgers, Madsen, Peterson, Klinger
Not Even Sure he wants to keep the job: Adams
The only one I could argue would be James Foster...who would be a stop gap solution of the shortest kind, even though I would love to see him get the job and to see his skills on the highest stage again. Someone suggested RHB - I nearly fell off my chair....why would anyone consider a guy of limited talent who presided over the farce of Cocaineshire? A recipe for disaster akin to asking Jesse Ryder and Andrew Symonds to run your club bar!
Gale is a credible candidate...but as I said, one raised jokingly. What I would actually do is as follows (my side to start next Summer):
AN Cook
JE Root
IR Bell
KP Pietersen
MJ Prior (c)
B Stokes
JE Bairstow (w)
S Borthwick/A Rashid
SJ Broad
JM Anderson
B Rankin
(Sorry Bressie!)
Prior has a good cricket brain and can come again as an international, but will struggle to combine three roles - his physical issues with keeping are well known. But at five, he can be a bulwark of the batting, which is reinforced by having a genuine top order bat at seven with the gloves and a decent bat at eight as well. Bairstow deserves a good run at the keeper's role - he has not produced as he might in the test arena but has been royally messed around by England, playing so infrequently that he has rarely been able to start a test in any kind of form, and has shown that he can bat at the top level, even if he has not gone on and converted. Lets take into account that he handled Steyn/Morkel/Philander/Kallis better than anyone and the way he reminded the rest of the England side that Nathan Lyon was a clubbie there to be spanked in the last test.
Someone raised the next names in line - having seen all of them a few times, I would place Robson ahead of Chopra because he has a more classical technique; Chopra is quite hacky with his movements and might be a nick off merchant at the top level. Taylor does not entirely convince me, though could make it if he was selected at a time when he could bed in against slower attacks, and Balance is a year to eighteen months away from being ready. Two names less frequently referenced who I think might break through this year are Alex Lees - a young Cook, not only for his lack of variety in shot selection - and Ben Foakes, who is a lovely batsman to watch.
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Topic: Cook - who would take over? (Read 47934 times)