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Iwans Big Toe

Alastair Cook. Cricket's answer to Chris Hughton.

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Watching the test match I can''t help but draw comparison between the two. He''s taken over a successful side and started playing very defensive cricket, feels the criticism of him is unwarranted, convinced he is the man for the job, plan A isn''t working but will stick with it anyway, same puzzled look as to why things aren''t going right. It''ll all end in tears, you mark my words.

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Fully agreed.

 

Cook''s captaincy is not good for the England team and neither is it good for him. From one of the biggest run machines in the history of the game he has become a persistent low achiever. No century in eleven games compares with the twenty odd he clocked up in remarkable time.

 

The question for me is who can be his replacement at the helm. Bell is the senior citizen and star batsman now but is a bit of a quiet sort, whilst Joe Root is too young and Matt Prior is, IMO, living off borrowed time with Jos Buttler yamping at his heels. 

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Replace him with the cheap option.

Someone already working for the ECB.

& claim you searched worldwide for his replacement but he was the best option despite little experience.

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[quote user="Iwans Big Toe"]Watching the test match I can''t help but draw comparison between the two. He''s taken over a successful side and started playing very defensive cricket, feels the criticism of him is unwarranted, convinced he is the man for the job, plan A isn''t working but will stick with it anyway, same puzzled look as to why things aren''t going right. It''ll all end in tears, you mark my words.

[/quote]Isn''t that a bit unfair? Hughton ended up doing worse with a squad that was - on paper - stronger. Cook took over a side that was on the verge of going into decline. The side now is nothing like as good as the one that won 3-1 in Oz. In particulat the loss of Swann, who could be used as an attacking or a defensive bowler, must make captaining much harder.

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Do you actually know anything about cricket?!

There is nothing a captain can do if a batsman fails to score runs. He leads from the front recent form hasn''t been good but scored 27 centuries in the quickest time

As for bowling, hasn''t got a first class spinner and if Anderson isn''t swinging the ball then the bowling attack is average

He''s no Strauss I agree but he has now got a worse team than him

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Another careful, cautious, nervous batting failure from Cooke today.

 

It has spread throughout the team and now we are up against it against the mighty Sri Lankans.

 

"Shambles, absolute shambles."  David Lloyd.

 

Please, please selectors have the guts to reduce poor Cookey to the ranks so that he can get back to scoring ''tons for fun.''

 

The only option for me would seem to be to give Prior the captaincy for the Summer, on a temporary basis, before he himself is put out to grass.

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Why is it cooks fault that the top order has failed yet again?

As for cricket is for c**ts, football is for bigger ones let me assure you. N** head

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[quote user="alartz"]Why is it cooks fault that the top order has failed yet again?

As for cricket is for c**ts, football is for bigger ones let me assure you. N** head[/quote]

For 3 main reasons.1. He is part of the top order that has failed yet again and hasn''t made a decent score since he has become captain.2. He is captain of the side and, unlike in football where it is more of an honour position, he is actually responsible for picking the team and managing it when they get out into the field.3. He had a key role in removing the highest run scorer in England''s history from the team well before he should have been removed because, in all likelihood, he doesn''t get on with him.Don''t you know anything about cricket?

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Of course it can''t actually be Cooke''s fault that other batsmen have also failed but it''s frequently the way in cricket that when the openers fail to make a solid start the oncoming batsmen are put under more pressure and subsequently fail as well.

 

It is also frequently the way in cricket that the Captain''s performance exerts a distinct influence on the rest of the team. It''s not just a matter of simply leading from the front either as it is often the case that if the Captain is under pressure the rest of the team feel it too.

 

This is not a criticism of Alastair Cooke as a batsmen or a person, but as a captain he is, IMO, over-cautious in his approach and if the captaincy adversely effects his hitherto superb batting record then I, for one, would wish him reduced to the ranks.  

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[quote user="Iwans Big Toe"][quote user="alartz"]Why is it cooks fault that the top order has failed yet again?

As for cricket is for c**ts, football is for bigger ones let me assure you. N** head[/quote]

For 3 main reasons.1. He is part of the top order that has failed yet again and hasn''t made a decent score since he has become captain.2. He is captain of the side and, unlike in football where it is more of an honour position, he is actually responsible for picking the team and managing it when they get out into the field.3. He had a key role in removing the highest run scorer in England''s history from the team well before he should have been removed because, in all likelihood, he doesn''t get on with him.Don''t you know anything about cricket?

[/quote]

Graham Gooch retired from Test cricket of his own volition. I don''t think Cook, who was 11 at the time, had too much to do with it. As to Cook and Pietersen, it is accepted that Cook, when he took over as captain, argued for Pietersen to be allowed back, after Textgate (an incident that in an earlier era would have ended the guilty party''s England career with absolutely no chance of a reprieve). That doesn''t square at all with Cook being dead set against Pietersen and looking for an excuse to dump him.That Pietersen did get irrevocably sacked almost certainly says more about his egotistical self-absorption than any ill-will on Cook''s part.

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Watching England''s bowlers doing exactly the same thing over after over and wondering (along with everyone else apparently) why Cook wasn''t giving Ali a bowl while the tactics seemed to be simply to try to stop Matthews scoring at will instead of actively trying to get him out...

I must admit the though of ''whatever happened to plan B'' did occur to me...

Certainly Cook shares some of CH more cautious traits I would say!

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A cricket captain is a very special position. It isn''t like other sports where you pick your team and the best one becomes skipper.

In many cases, the captain in cricket is in that position purely because he specialises in being a captain rather than batsman or in a few cases, bowler.

Alastair Cook was being groomed as England Captain. He appeared to have all the correct credentials.

But circumstances have made that transition very, very difficult.

The majority of the backroom staff have gone and apart from the pace bowling coach they are all new (yes, I know Moores was there before but circumstances were different).

Three of the mainstays of the team have gone: Trott, Pietersen and Swann. Three world class cricketers.

The team is still smarting from the Ashes whitewash and has retreated into a tame, staid and defensive team. The signs were there last summer''s Ashes but a fortuitous series win covered up the cracks.

And now our main batsman has not only lost his technique he has also lost his desire to take the game to the bowlers and just reacts.

The ECB has to ask itself if this squad and the current skipper, give or take one or two additions, is what it believes will be England''s for the nest few years.

If the answer is yes, then stick with them and accept a few defeats in the rebuilding process and like Australia, they will emerge as a team to head for the No1 spot.

If they aren''t sure then I fear we will be back to the time prior to 2005 when we found it difficult to match the best.

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The KP debacle left a sour taste for many including me. Personally KP was the one player that I would be excited about going to see play. Yes, he had his failures, but when he hit form he was something very special. Cooks part in this, for me, opened the door for people to kick him if the aftermath didn''t go well. His form has nose-dived and he looks downbeat and broken (Boycott commented on this today). It would be best for all if he dropped down to country cricket to regain some form with the bat. On the comparison with CH and defensive tactics, I can see that. However, in many ways I feel Cook is even worse and can''t seem to get the troops inspired. He can be a top opener again when he gets his confidence back but he''s not a leader / captain that would inspire me.

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The only thing saving Cook is the lack of an obvious successor. Captaincy awful, uninspiring, negative and inflexible.

And it''s Houghton, how many more times.

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Jimmy Anderson setting a few new batting records for himself and England. Who would have thought it[:D]

Well done.

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I feel sorry for Cook. There''s been a definite lack of English talent in the last couple of years and there''s a massive rebuliding project to undertake. Strauss, Pietersen, Trott and Swann have all gone, and I''d even argue they never properly replaced Collingwood. Moores has opted for a highly inexperienced batting top 6, preferring to bring in new boys Robson, Ali, Ballance. Joe Root whilst talented is still very raw. I have utterly no idea how the invisible man Ian Bell always escapes criticism as he never seems to post a big score when it''s really needed.If you get rid of Cook who is there? Bell just cowers in the corner. Prior might struggle to combine wicket keeping and captaincy. Broad isn''t consistent as an allrounder, so I doubt he can absorb more responsibility without suffering further. After 11 years of test match bowling I doubt Jimmy Anderson can be a strike bowler much longer.

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