Sunday, January 19, 2014

England captain Alastair Cook expects changes following tough tour to Australia


Alastair Cook has suggested he may stand down as England one-day captain after losing the series to Australia with two games to spare.

The hosts cruised past England's total of 243-9 with seven wickets and 10 overs to spare in Sydney on Sunday, meaning they now hold an unassailable 3-0 lead following previous victories in Melbourne and Brisbane.


Cook - English cricket needs changes
It means the tourists have now lost eight international games in a row on the tour, including a 5-0 whitewash in the Ashes series Down Under.

Speaking after the third one-dayer, Cook said management would need to talk over "a lot of things" at the end of the trip, but stated that "English cricket needs a little bit of a change" following the horrific run of results.

"I think I'm going to have to make a decision on that after you take stock of the next two games (to end the series)," he said.

"We'll sit down and talk over a lot of things. I think there will be some changes.

"I think English cricket needs a little bit of a change as well.

"The last few months we haven't played the cricket we are capable of. We have to look at the reasons why."

Long two weeks


Cook to step down?
The opening batsman was given the backing to remain in charge by the England and Wales Cricket board during the fifth Test at the same venue.

Asked if he felt his position has been undermined since, Cook added: "I don't really want to get dragged into my position. I think it's been two weeks since someone asked me that question - it's been a long two weeks.

"We have kept losing games of cricket and I haven't been able to turn it around."

As for the game itself, Cook lamented the failure of his batsmen to kick on after making starts. All of the top six for the tourists made it into double figures, the skipper himself making 35 while Eoin Morgan top-scored with 54.


Clarke praises perfect performance
"In the first 10 overs we played alright," Cook said. "Then we did what you can't afford to do - we kept losing wickets. It's very had to build momentum.

"I think everyone got 20 or 30 - you need to go on. In the last game we managed to do it, then you get a big score. If someone gets a hundred you get 300+, and that's what we needed.

"They've won a lot of cricket against us over the past couple of months; obviously it's tough to stop that. We've got two games to try and do that."

Cook is due to meet team director Andy Flower and new managing director Paul Downton when he returns home to conduct a review of the Australia tour. He is not part of the squad for the three-match Twenty20 series that is still to come, with Stuart Broad in charge for those matches.

Copyright : skysports

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