Alistair Cook steps down as England skipper

I hope being relieved of that burden allows him to concentrate on his batting again and he’s soon scoring big daddy hundreds for fun.

he stuck it to the bogans enough times, if i ever met him i would like to thank him for that.
he let his cricket do the talking not his gob too, something other captains could learn from.

Sad to see him go, but it’s probably the right decision at the right time. Hoping it will allow him to bat with less pressure and that the captaincy doesn’t ruin Root (hard to see past him as the replacement).

So, farewell then Captain Cook

He died in 1779. You’re outdoing SaxonRider.

He died in 1779.

😯

…you’ll be telling me Joe Cocker is dead next.

Sad to see him go, but it’s probably the right decision at the right time. Hoping it will allow him to bat with less pressure and that the captaincy doesn’t ruin Root (hard to see past him as the replacement)

Pretty much this, though part of me thinks they may throw a curve ball and pick Stokes as the next captain.

If you look at his stats, he really is a hell of a batsman and captain.

Strauss was our last good captain. Mainly because he was picked foe England late, and was already an established county captain. All the current crop have grown up as internationals away from their counties. I like Root, but once again we will foist the captaincy on somebody with little experience of it . Cook was finally growing in to a comfortable competent captain, and he is out. I fear we are set to repeat this cycle.

What we should do is make either Hameed or Jennngs Lions captain for 2 or 3 years to learn the ropes.

😯 because he doesn’t have enough to do at the moment?

I’m not sure either of those 2 are going to be playing much more Lions cricket. Though it appears Jennings is being groomed for the role http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/1079672.html

Aracer – you are right, but I think for the long term best, it would be good for someone to have a couple of tears captaincy.

Roooooooot!

looking forward to the on field fisticuffs as he winds up the oppos! 🙂

stokes as vice too. good cop bad cop

Still reckon it should have been Broady – older head with nothing to prove, and he’s usually manipulating the field when he’s bowling in any case.

Hoping Root can get settled in before November 🙂 If Cook is still playing then and scoring freely Root will have a solid back up on the field and in the dressing room, after the KP shenanigans it’s good to see a team who are all there for the same reason

Still reckon it should have been Broady – older head with nothing to prove, and he’s usually manipulating the field when he’s bowling in any case.

Nah, he’s getting on a bit for a fast bowler and will be broken as much as he’ll be available for the last few years of his career. Skipper needs to be one of the first names on the team sheet reliably. The only true fast bowler I can remember as skipper was big Bob.

Part of the scorecard would be very predictable with Broad in charge:

Reviews remaining: England, 0

part of me thinks they may throw a curve ball and pick Stokes as the next captain

No! Just no.

The last two match-winning, rollicking allrounders to be given the captaincy were Botham and Flintoff. They were both shocking captains and the captaincy impacted on their game very badly.

Stokes is the perfect Sergeant Major, enforcing and tub-thumping, and the worst possible captain.

zokes – Still not a customer

Still reckon it should have been Broady – older head with nothing to prove, and he’s usually manipulating the field when he’s bowling in any case.

You are joking, right?

Given that captains’ batting ability often suffers, couldn’t this be really bad news?

It doesn’t seem to have done Kohli, Williamson or Smith much harm – Root being a man very much in the same mould as those 3. Nor did Cook’s batting seem to suffer too much. In fact as mentioned a few posts above, it seems to just be the all-rounders who have suffered with the total load – personally I’d prefer Stokes to be kept as far away from any formal leadership role as possible.

Missed this thread when it first came around. It sounds as if Cook has done the right thing, he may not have been the greatest captain but he comes across as a throughly good man – here hoping he has plenty of runs to come.

Root – well he is Yorkshire which bodes well – best of luck to him and here’s hoping we break the succession of SA tours which end with the resignation of the England captain.

I’m not a fan of cricket but what is it with everyone that plays for England getting stressed so much and complaining about the pressure, especially captains? I get that there must be a lot of pressure competing in sport at elite level but it seems to affect cricket(ers?) more than anyone else. Also is it just English players or is it a well-known thing in the game worldwide?

I’m not a fan of cricket but what is it with everyone that plays for England getting stressed so much and complaining about the pressure, especially captains? I get that there must be a lot of pressure competing in sport at elite level but it seems to affect cricket(ers?) more than anyone else. Also is it just English players or is it a well-known thing in the game worldwide?

I was going to say it’s the touring, being away from home for weeks at a time but loads of sportsmen (and normal people) have to do that. I guess batting is as much a mental thing as a skill set at that level. It only takes playing half a dozen balls badly over the course of a series (with a cumulative decision making time of less than a second) to destroy a life times reputation. All the while some gorilla is chucking a hard ball at you at 90mph and him and his friends are telling you how much the next one is going to hurt you. Pressure must be quite high. There are not many sports where you walk out all alone with a baying crowd and 11 opposition players ‘welcoming’ you; everyone’s eye on your performance and yours alone then one error and you are walking off alone to derision.

I can only think of Trescothick and Trott for whom the pressure/stress have caused them obvious mental health issues but I guess you could look at most batsmen that have lost form and suggest it was the pressure what done it.