Alastair Cook steps down as England captain

[theegyptian]

Sounds like Root is going to be announced today as captain.

Broad all but ruled himself out at the weekend in his mail artice. Basically said he'd take the job but it should go to someone younger and that should be Root.

Fingers crossed it all goes well for Root then.

 

[Gnske]

Easy and right choice, hopefully the captaincy doesn't suck the remainder of his youth out and leave behind a desiccated husk.

Especially glad Stokes should be VC

 

[quincywagstaff]

This is a bit of devil's advocate, but I wonder with an Ashes tour so soon if Broad would've been the better choice.

Ashes Tours (10/11 excepted) have been brutal, often demoralising affairs for England in recent decades as Oz cricket, fans and media not only take delight in winning them but humiliating England where possible.

And for someone they see as obviously a long-term option, having Root lead an Ashes tour so early into his reign is a massive ask I reckon because of the factors sited above.

With Broad, I reckon he would've relished leading an Ashes tour as he seems to lift for such occasions (as he showed with his Gabba performance after media mocking last time). Also, he would really rile up Oz cricketers, fans and media like few others and that potentially could benefit England if they have a leader preparing to fight fire with fire. Far too many touring sides to Oz in recent decades have been passive in face of Oz aggression I reckon.

Anyway, it's just a left-field suggestion and all signs suggest Root is the right choice.

 

[S.Kennedy]

do you have a problem with 'posh' people?

I have a problem with the ECB but not posh people.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Well we don't know how good root will be. He made a dog's dinner of a Middlesex match, Middlesex chasing down 470 off. His Yorkshire teammates nicknamed him Craptain. But that was a long time ago.

 

[ImpatientLime]

in fairness as bad as it looks on paper for him, he and his team were on the receiving end of an absolutely out of this world masterclass by chris rogers.

i was there for all four days. i've never seen anything like it live.

 

[indiaholic]

Ignoramus question about the county system. For someone who seemed to be destined for the England captaincy, why wasn't he captained more games at the county and under 19 levels?

 

[harsh.ag]

Ignoramus question about the county system. For someone who seemed to be destined for the England captaincy, why wasn't he captained more games at the county and under 19 levels?

Not sure about Root's case, but what can happen with prodigies is that they are too young to captain the youth teams since they enter those teams at a younger age than the rest of the team.

 

[S.Kennedy]

England snaps them up and they do not tend to switch the captaincy whenever the international captain returns as I suppose it would not be seen as a fair policy. Doeschate captained Essex still when Cook played for them last season.

 

[indiaholic]

I see that somebody called Azeem Rafiq was the captain ahead of Root.. Azeem seems to have been marked as the potential captain at Yorkshire and England age group cricket.

 

[Bijed]

This is a bit of devil's advocate, but I wonder with an Ashes tour so soon if Broad would've been the better choice.

Ashes Tours (10/11) have been brutal, often demoralising affairs for England in recent decades as Oz cricket, fans and media not only take delight in winning them but humiliating England where possible.

And for someone they see as obviously a long-term option, having Root lead an Ashes tour so early into his reign is a massive ask I reckon because of the factors sited above.

With Broad, I reckon he would've relished leading an Ashes tour as he seems to lift for such occasions (as he showed with his Gabba performance after media mocking last time). Also, he would really rile up Oz cricketers, fans and media like few others and that potentially could benefit England if they have a leader preparing to fight fire with fire. Far too many touring sides to Oz in recent decades have been passive in face of Oz aggression I reckon.

Anyway, it's just a left-field suggestion and all signs suggest Root is the right choice.

I'd have liked to see Broad for pretty much the same reasons as you. I guess the feeling is that Root offers enough of the same qualities, not necessarily sure I think so, but what's done is done. I suppose if Root is shown up as inadequate in the SA/WI tours, they could in theory make Broad captain for the ashes anyway? Wouldn't really expect that to happen, but still a possibility.

Well we don't know how good root will be. He made a dog's dinner of a Middlesex match, Middlesex chasing down 470 off. His Yorkshire teammates nicknamed him Craptain. But that was a long time ago.

Seen this mentioned a few times now, in all seriousness how much of the loss was down to poor captaincy from Root? Not saying he's blameless, I've genuinely got no detailed knowledge of the match, but as has been said, Chris Rogers played absolutely sublimely, maybe bad bowling/fielding was abnormally poor etc.

If his captaincy was genuinely awful, then fair enough though.

 

[S.Kennedy]

I'd have liked to see Broad for pretty much the same reasons as you. I guess the feeling is that Root offers enough of the same qualities, not necessarily sure I think so, but what's done is done. I suppose if Root is shown up as inadequate in the SA/WI tours, they could in theory make Broad captain for the ashes anyway? Wouldn't really expect that to happen, but still a possibility.



Seen this mentioned a few times now, in all seriousness how much of the loss was down to poor captaincy from Root? Not saying he's blameless, I've genuinely got no detailed knowledge of the match, but as has been said, Chris Rogers played absolutely sublimely, maybe bad bowling/fielding was abnormally poor etc.

If his captaincy was genuinely awful, then fair enough though.

As I said, his team mates were calling him Craptain!

 

[Bijed]

Yeah, fair enough, I think what I was trying to get at is was that nickname bestowed simply because they lost the game, even if his captaincy wasn't the main reason for the loss.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Yeah, fair enough, I think what I was trying to get at is was that nickname bestowed simply because they lost the game, even if his captaincy wasn't the main reason for the loss.

That game probably doesn't mean much. He has been England vice-captain since then and his cricketing brain has probably improved.

 

[honestbharani]

It is so hard for anyone to develop captaincy experience once they have made the test side, though... And that is probably true for all teams as there is no way those players will have the time to play a season of FC cricket and lead their FC side.

 

[S.Kennedy]

In the old days you'd have Brearley flying between Middlesex and England games and doing a tremendous job for both. Edmonds deputised when the Tests were concurrent. There was more First Class cricket in those days, and, before central contracts players were not rested.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

In the old days you'd have Brearley flying between Middlesex and England games and doing a tremendous job for both. Edmonds deputised when the Tests were concurrent. There was more First Class cricket in those days, and, before central contracts players were not rested.

Can't really complain then when the system means the players are basically England players and occasional county players. The old players think it is a better system now as they used to go off and play a 3 day game the day after a test finished and fit another one in with the Sunday League before going off to England again, you look back now and it was madness but nobody said anything as it was what they did. Lord McLaurin did English cricket a huge turn with the changes in his reign.

 

[StephenZA]

The biggest issue with Root captaining is that he is getting the job more because he is the best batsmen and always plays, than he is an obvious great leader.

SA just went through this with Amla and deVillers before Faf became captain. Amla was always reluctant and never really captained consistently at lower levels. deVillers was eager but never really captained because he normally played with Faf domestically and in his younger days, where Faf was considered the better leader and thus always captained. G.Smith got his captaincy when he was young, but was always considered a leader, Pollock was not. I am just saying this as examples.

Root may be a great captain, but personally I don`t think he is a natural leader and will probably struggle, hopefully this does not effect his batting; but I don`t know who else Eng could pick. Please nobody even mention Broad or Anderson!

 

[Member Berry]

The biggest issue with Root captaining is that he is getting the job more because he is the best batsmen and always plays, than he is an obvious great leader.

SA just went through this with Amla and deVillers before Faf became captain. Amla was always reluctant and never really captained consistently at lower levels. deVillers was eager but never really captained because he normally played with Faf domestically and in his younger days, where Faf was considered the better leader and thus always captained. G.Smith got his captaincy when he was young, but was always considered a leader, Pollock was not. I am just saying this as examples.

Root may be a great captain, but personally I don`t think he is a natural leader and will probably struggle, hopefully this does not effect his batting; but I don`t know who else Eng could pick. Please nobody even mention Broad or Anderson!

The idea of someone being a "natural leader" is so nebulous and hard to judge without seeing the person in question actually lead though. And even then, I'm not quite sure who qualifies and who doesn't.

Genuine question: How many of the current captains in test cricket would most of us consider natural leaders? Do Kohli, Smith and Williamson qualify?

I personally don't think so, for different reasons, but would love to hear others' opinions on this.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Can't really complain then when the system means the players are basically England players and occasional county players. The old players think it is a better system now as they used to go off and play a 3 day game the day after a test finished and fit another one in with the Sunday League before going off to England again, you look back now and it was madness but nobody said anything as it was what they did. Lord McLaurin did English cricket a huge turn with the changes in his reign.

I agree in regards to the international set-up however, although it has been the country's game, it has also been the counties' loss. Since central contracts you get a sense that the counties have been reduced (in the eyes of the hierarchy and unfortunately some of the players) into merely a rehearsal school for the test team. Some of the ECB chicanery has been infuriating, for instance, Bairstow being barred from playing against Middlesex in what is tantamount to a final by (Middlesex's) Strauss, and players (e.g. Woakes) being yanked from a county match mid-match.