Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook was placed in charge of England’s one-day team and now England has three cricket captains.

The England and Wales Cricket Board already had a separate captain for the Twenty20 side, but appointed the 26 year old opener Cook captaincy over the 50-over team after test captain Andrew Strauss very unexpectedly relinquished control. Strauss also announced his retirement from international limited overs cricket, something that he wasn’t expected to do because of the impact on his central contract.

In addition to this, Paul Collingwood has been sacked as England T20 captain to be replaced by fast bowler Stuart Broad – a move that has raised some eyebrows but was necessary because of the question marks over Cook’s abilities in T20 cricket and Collingwood’s injury concerns and poor recent form. However Strauss retains the test captaincy.

Strauss said that the amount of cricket now played with lengthy one-day series now customary alongside test matches and increasingly popular Twenty20 – was one of the reasons for the decision to pick multiple captains.

Strauss was quoted saying, “The thing I’m most excited about with the structure is that it gives each captain the opportunity to come in and add their drive and verve.” Strauss averaged 47.71 at a strike rate of 93.55 in England’s seven matches at this year’s World Cup, where England reached the quarterfinals despite embarrassing defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh.

ECB Managing Director, Hugh Morris paid tribute to both Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood and stated that Strauss will continue to play an important strategic role in the development of Team England and a crucial role in developing and mentoring both Cook and Broad.

Cook has long been discussed as a future Test captain and now has got the chance to gain experience before taking over the test captaincy from the 34 year old Strauss.

Cook will take charge of the team in the one-day internationals against Sri Lanka, which begins on June 28.

Tags: Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Cricket, ECB, England, Paul Collingwood