Alastair Cook appointed England captain for Bangladesh tour

 
Cook steps up to let Andrew Strauss rest
James Anderson also omitted from February tour

• Rob Bagchi
• guardian.co.uk, Article history
• Alastair Cook, right, has been appointed to stand in for Andrew Strauss as England captain for the Bangladesh tour. Photograph: Paul Gilham/Getty Images
  
  Alastair Cook has been appointed to captain England on the tour to Bangladesh. The selectors have decided to rest Andrew Strauss from the tour and he will be replaced to lead both the Test and 50-overs sides by the current Test vice-captain, Cook. Paul Collingwood will continue as Twenty20 captain and lead the team in the two T20 internationals against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates which precede the tour of Bangladesh.
  
  Geoff Miller, the national selector, said: "Andrew Strauss has provided outstanding leadership for the team in both forms of the game over the past 12 months and the selectors feel it is important that he takes a break ahead of an extremely busy programme of international cricket leading up to and including the Ashes series in Australia and the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011.
  
  "Our decision to appoint Alastair Cook to the Test vice-captaincy last year clearly demonstrated the belief that he has the potential to be a future England captain. Alastair will now have an opportunity to develop his leadership skills still further by leading the side in both forms of cricket in Bangladesh and I know that he is excited by the challenge and looking forward to working closely with Andy Flower."
  
  James Anderson has also been rested from the tour in order to see a specialist and undertake a programme of rest and rehabilitation for his chronic right-knee injury. It is hoped that following the rehabilitation period, he will be fully fit and available for selection for the World T20 tournament in the Caribbean in late April.
  
  Two uncapped players, the Yorkshire pace bowler Ajmal Shahzad and the Kent off-spinner James Tredwell, have been named in both squads while another uncapped player, the Hampshire batsman Michael Carberry, has been included in the Test squad.
  
  "We are delighted to welcome Ajmal Shahzad to both squads for the first time," Miller siad. "He enjoyed an excellent season with Yorkshire last year, made a strong impression while he was in South Africa with the EPP squad and is a bowler with the potential to make a real impact in international cricket.
  
  "James Tredwell and Michael Carberry have also continued to impress the selectors over the course of the winter and we expect both players to make a strong challenge for inclusion in our starting line-up on the forthcoming tour."
  

  Test squad

  Alastair Cook (capt) (Essex), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Steven Davies (Surrey), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Matthew Prior (Sussex), Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), James Tredwell (Kent), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).
  

  One-day squad

  Alastair Cook (capt) (Essex), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Joe Denly (Kent), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Matthew Prior (Sussex), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), James Tredwell (Kent),Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).