Cook upset at Twenty20 skipper snub

Cardiff (Wales), Sep. 16 : England one-day captain Alastair Cook has admiited to being upset over Graeme Swann being made the national team’s stand-in Twenty20 captain, as he wanted the job himself to go with his permanent leadership of the 50-over team.
Speaking before today''s final one-dayer against India in Cardiff, The Sun quoted Cook, as saying: "I was disappointed — you are when your name''s in the hat and it doesn''t go your way. I think part of the reason was that the selectors did not want to disturb the opening partnership of Craig Kieswetter and Alex Hales.”
"It''s disappointing but you can''t overly worry about selection. It has given a chance to Graeme and he''ll do a good job. He thinks about the game when he is bowling so it should be quite easy for him against West Indies,” he added.
"I don''t know if he''ll be an orthodox or adventurous captain but he''ll probably try a few things," Cook said of Swann.

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Cook seeks to end series with India on a high

Cardiff (Wales), Sep. 16 (ANI): England cricket captain Alastair Cook has said that his side would try to seal the ongoing ODI series against India with a win in the final game, in Cardiff on Friday. Cook said his side’s approach has not changed and they are concentrating on one game at a time, and practicing hard for the last match.
“Yeah, no change really, it’s another game to try and win for England and, the way we’ve practiced over the last two days, we’ve been very proud of that. We’re a very young side trying to make progress and this is another game on that step,” he said.
Cook said that a lot of improvements are needed in the English team to make them an effective side. He said he was fortunate as a captain to have taken the right decisions at the right time, and said that he was enjoying leading the side.
“Yeah, it’s been a good start. I’m very happy at the way the lads are taking to me as captain. They all pour into the ideas and as I said, it’s going to take a while for these things we want to work on, to get to the standard we want,” he said.
Cook said that while the ODI series has seen some keen contests between the two teams, it was England’s exceptional performance in the Test series that gave them the winning momentum.
Cook was also all praise for Rahul Dravid, who will retire from the ODI format after Friday’s game.
“Yeah, he’s scored 10,000 runs in both forms of the game and is a stalwart of Indian cricket. He’s a fantastic player who’s managed to adapt his game to every surface. He is an all-time great and a fantastic player,” Cook said.
England lead the ODI series against India 2-0, seeking to end the series unbeaten after winning the Test series 4-0, and also winning the solitary Twenty20 game between the two sides.

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England eye clean sweep against India in one-dayer

We're going to have to play at the top of our game to try to win, and finish the summer on a high as a one-day team: Alastair Cook.
England captain Alastair Cook is hoping to complete a miserable tour for India on Friday by wrapping up a 3-0 one-day series victory over the tourists.
India are yet to taste victory over England this summer, having been whitewashed 4-0 in the Test series and trailing 2-0 ahead of Friday’s final one-dayer in Cardiff.
However India came agonisingly close to pipping England at Lord’s last weekend, and Cook remains wary of the threat posed by the wounded tourists heading into the match.
“The last two games have been very close, and have shown what a talented side India are,” Cook said.
“We’re going to have to play at the top of our game to try to win, and finish the summer on a high as a one-day team.”
Cook however is satisfied with England’s form in his first season in charge as skipper of the limited overs side, which also included a 3-2 series win over Sri Lanka.
“It’s been a good start, and I’m very happy with the way the lads have taken to me as captain and bought into the ideas,” Cook said.
“I’m very happy with winning both series. We know how tough it’s going to be in the next two months or so (in a return series in India), but this side has always responded well to challenges.”
Cook also believes England’s one-day squad can improve.
“We are a very young side trying to make progress,” he said. “The exciting thing is I don’t think we’ve played as well as we can.
“We have been put under pressure in this series, but have still won the games. That is very encouraging.
Meanwhile Cook paid tribute to India batsman Rahul Dravid, who will be playing his 344th and final one-day game.
“He’s scored 10,000 runs in both forms of the game. He’s managed to adapt his game to every surface,” Cook said. “He is an all-time great.”

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Cook and Trott win main ICC awards

LONDON: England batsmen Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott were named respectively Test player of the year and player of the year at a ceremony hosted by the sport's governing body the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday.

Cook, the 26-year-old opener who was appointed one day captain after the World Cup this year - shone during the year peaking with a masterly 294 in the third Test victory over India in August, though, that fell outside the time frame for the award.

It was his third Test century in six matches and 19th in all and is now just three shy of England's all-time record Test century total.

It represents quite a turnaround in the genial Cook's fortunes as a year ago he was close to being dropped before reviving his career with a hundred against Pakistan at The Oval.

It proved to be the springboard for a triumphant tour of Australia where he scored 766 runs, including three centuries, as England won the Ashes 3-1.

During the performance period, he played 12 Tests and in 18 innings, he compiled 1,302 runs at an average of 51.74, including six centuries and four half-centuries.

His highest score of 235 not out against Australia at Brisbane helped his team towards series victory as it won the Ashes away from home for the first time since the 1986-87 season.

The independent voting academy of 25 cricket experts put Cook first, ahead of an impressive group of players that had been short-listed, including England team-mates Trott and James Anderson, as well as Jacques Kallis of South Africa, who previously won this award in 2005.

The ICC later named Trott as their cricketer of the year.

Trott, who alongside Cook was a bedrock of England's victory in Australia last winter with 445 runs, took the award ahead of fellow short-list nominees Sachin Tendulkar and Hashim Amla.

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Tie was a fair result: Cook

London, Sep 12 - England captain Alastair Cook said that the tie was a fair result in the rain-affected fourth One-day International against India at the Lord's here Sunday.
The match was evenly poised when rain interrupted for the third time with England needing 11 runs to win off seven balls with two wickets in hand. But with the rain falling the Duckworth/Lewis method came into play and India were unlucky. England clinched the series with still a match left.
"It was touch and go towards the end, we ended up batting for D/L, being more defensive knocking off the singles, not sure when the rain was coming. Tie was a fair result," said Cook.
The England captain was all praise for Ravi Bopara, who hit a career best 96 and took his team to the threshold of a win. Bopara was jointly adjudged as Man of the Match with Suresh Raina.
"Great to see Bopara delivering on the big stage to get us a tie. We tried everything earlier but that partnership (between Dhoni and Raina) was fantastic. If we had kept them to 250, we could have got there comfortably. Possibly we missed (Jade) Dernbach. We will know on Stuart Broad in 48 hours," he said.
Bopara said it was not the ideal way to clinch the series.
"With the rain around, we did not know when to accelerate. Should I knock it for ones and twos, or go for the big shots, once (Graeme) Swann got out I thought we should really go for it towards the close. Last couple of games have been nice for me, long way to go ahead," he said. (IANS)

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