So the Chief has decided to pass the armband on. After captaining the team for 59 Matches, with Series wins in India and South Africa and two Ashes wins followed by a difficult draw with Pakistan and Bangladesh and a 4-0 trouncing in India, Cookie has decided he has had enough.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most successful batsmen we have had, breaking several records on the way, Cook has been a great ambassador for English Cricket and is very highly respected by the team and England Supporters alike. He’s had some critics (mainly from the press and one or two pundits) about certain aspects of his captaincy and the KP sacking and maybe some of them are warranted – but it is a team game, and I’m sure each one of the players out in India, if asked could they have played better, would have given a 100% yes.
Having watched a majority of the tests in India and being in Chandigarh, it was a poor performance by almost every player, but I am afraid the buck always ends up with the Captain and Manager. I was personally hoping he would stay until at least after the summer Test Matches against the West Indies and the improving South Africa team – as I see it, if we lose those games the new captain (most probably Rooty) would be under similar pressure with the Ashes just over the Horizon.
Thank you Cookie I hope you stay around for a few more years yet and maybe have a chance of passing Sachin Tendulkar’s record!
