England stick by Cook
Alastair Cook has been reconfirmed as captain for the third Test against India despite England losing seven of its last nine Tests.
Even though England selector James Whitaker said on Tuesday it was “vital” the team arrived “refreshed and ready” for the Test starting on Sunday at the Rose Bowl, only one enforced change was made to the 13-man squad, with the uncapped Jos Buttler in for injured wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
Cook refused to step down as skipper after the embarrassing 95-run loss at Lord’s on Monday, on a second Test pitch made to order for England.
“I want to carry on,” he said, though he conceded he was running out of time before the decision was taken out of his hands.
Cook was averaging 23.6 in 27 innings since his last century 14 months ago, and his captaincy has been undermined by the lack of support on the pitch from his fellow veterans, particularly Prior and fast bowler Stuart Broad.
“I haven’t had any tougher times in my career than at the moment,” Cook said.
“But I don’t think walking away from it would be the way to go. I’ll stay until my position becomes untenable.”
While it was difficult to see Cook canned as captain in the middle of a series India was leading 1-0, his predecessors weren’t uncertain.
Former captains Michael Atherton, Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain, Ian Botham and Geoffrey Boycott all say it was time Cook gave up the captaincy and concentrated just on batting.
“The cruellest cut would also be the kindest cut, as it would be in this fine cricketer’s best interests, so that he can find a way to score runs and enjoy his cricket game,” Atherton, skipper for a record 54 Tests to 2001, wrote in The Times.
Botham wrote in the Daily Mirror, “He’s got to say, ’This is not working, it’s running through the team now and I’m stepping down’.
“It is all well and good the captain standing there and saying, ’I’m trying very hard and giving it everything,’ but when the brain is scrambled, it’s scrambled’.“
Prior announced on Monday he was taking an indefinite break from the game to resolve fitness issues, though it was regarded as the end of his 79-Test career.
- England seamer James Anderson is facing a ban of up to four Tests over his clash with India’s Ravinda Jadeja at Trent Bridge earlier this month.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Tuesday a full hearing into allegations Anderson “abused and pushed” Jadeja would take place by video conference on August 1.
Anderson could be banned from the fourth Test at his Old Trafford home ground, but will be free to play in the third Test against India in Southampton starting on Sunday - with his hearing due to take place the day after the scheduled finish of that match.
Should ICC code of conduct commissioner Gordon Lewis, a retired Australian judge, find against him, Anderson would be hit with a ban of up to four-Tests.
The ICC added that counter-charges laid by England against Jadeja would not be heard by Lewis but by match referee David Boon, the former Australia batsman.
However, the “details of this hearing are being worked out and will be announced in due course,” the global governing body said in a statement after Lewis held a preliminary hearing via a teleconference, involving the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and their respective lawyers on Tuesday.
Last week Anderson was accused of breaching the ICC’s code of conduct for what India said was his physical, as well as verbal confrontation with all-rounder Jadeja during the lunch break on the second day of the drawn first Test at Trent Bridge on July 10.
India team manager Sunil Dev accused Anderson of committing a Level Three offence under the ICC code.
England team manager Phil Neale charged Jadeja in response, but only with a lesser Level Two offence in what appeared to be a move designed to avoid admitting a physical confrontation had taken place.
Level Three offences can see a player banned for up to four Tests.
A Level Two offence carries a ban of up to one Test, or two one-day internationals, depending on which type of match is scheduled next for the suspended player.
