A decision better late than never

It is surely better to be right eventually than consistently wrong.

The ECB's decision to sack Alastair Cook as ODI captain may be overdue, but it is also correct and gives England an outside chance of success at the World Cup.

They had almost no chance with Cook in the side. They were carrying a man who had scored one half-century in his last 22 innings and had not managed a century for 30 months and 45 innings. That is not a poor run of form; it is a famine.

And it is not too late to have made this decision. Ahead of the 2010 World T20 - the only global event England have ever won - they called five men into the squad who had only four caps between them. One of them, Craig Kieswetter, went on to be Man of the Match in the final. Another, Michael Lumb, was his opening partner, while Michael Yardy also played a valuable role as a left-arm spinner.

But to have left this decision so late does raise questions about the judgement of the selectors and Paul Downton. They were, collectively anyway, unable to see or unwilling to see what many could several months ago: that Cook was not the man to lead the side in ODI cricket.

Perhaps that is unfair on some of the selectors. It is understood that a couple of them had strong reservations about Cook in September but found Peter Moores, the coach, in adamant mood.

But Moores' insistence on sticking with Cook until the 11th hour has put England at a significant disadvantage. In a format of the game in which role definition and familiarity is vital, the likes of Alex Hales and James Taylor would have benefited from every opportunity to hone their craft ahead of the World Cup. Instead they will go into it having been shunted up and down the order and, in Hales' case, been dropped and re-selected on several occasions.

It means that England travel to Australia and New Zealand much as they have done for the last five World Cups: with a new-look squad having enjoyed very little opportunity to finalise plans ahead of the tournament. Despite changing the date of the Ashes to allow a clear run at this World Cup - in the past, England have gone into World Cups on the back of Ashes series and then complained of weariness - they still go into the event trusting to luck.

It was not that England's strategy was flawed. While some pundits like to talk of the need for top-order batsmen to provide a sprint start, Sri Lanka showed in the series victory over England, that old-fashioned accumulation and later acceleration could still work. Victories were engineered by innings from Tillakaratne Dilshan (strike rate of 81.45 during his century in the final ODI) and Kumar Sangakkara (82.69 throughout the series) that would not have seemed excessive to the likes of Jonathan Trott.

The problem, for Cook and England, was simply that he was executing the strategy poorly. Not only was he scoring relatively slowly, but he was failing to justify the sedate starts by going on to register the substantial scores that might have underpinned the innings. And while the England camp talked of how well he was hitting the ball in the nets, there was no sign of that fluency in the middle. It is more than a year since he has looked in anything other than grim form in any form of the game.

But now it seems England will change not just the personnel but the strategy, too. Neither Hales or Moeen Ali - the likely openers - are necessarily the men for the slow build role and while watching them will be exciting, a side that has been bowled out nine times in its last 12 ODIs requires substance as well as style.

Nobody should think this decision ends all England's problems. They still have serious questions to answer about their death bowling and the ability of their other senior batsmen - Eoin Morgan in particular, is in worse form than the man he is set to replace - to produce the volume of runs required. But it does allow the opportunity to find a solution to one significant problem.

Cook's ODI career is almost certainly over. While it would be foolish to write-off a man with his record, he might be well-served to take more time off and concentrate on extending a Test career that - despite the recent lull - remains little less than extraordinary.

Cook has looked careworn for months. Whether it has been as a result of England's murderous schedule - too much is asked of these players, particularly the captain who has to face the media on an almost daily basis - or the extra burden taken on by the decision to sack Kevin Pietersen, Cook has struggled to rediscover the clarity of thought that rendered him England's record scorer of Test centuries.

Hopefully this decision will free him up and allow him the rest required to renew himself as a Test batsman and captain. It is not so long ago that he led England to victory in India and then the Ashes. In that format, his skills - his determination, his refusal to know when he is beaten - remain a fine quality.

In ODI cricket they became a weakness. While his decision to cling to the ODI captaincy may have been well intentioned, it only served to block opportunities for the likes of Hales. It is relevant, surely, that Taylor only won his opportunity in Sri Lanka when Cook was suspended. He really could have resigned weeks, if not months, ago.

The selectors will claim, with some justification, that they gave Cook every opportunity to rediscover his form. And it is true that their decision to err on the side of continuity is probably the better of two evils.

But the failure to act earlier was also weak. Whether it was a misplaced desire to unite the ODI and Test captaincy or a misplaced desire to back the man in whom they staked so much faith at the time of Pietersen's sacking, it has been shown to be an error.

Downton, in particular, needs to reflect on his part in this. Having backed Cook firmly only in the last few days, he then sat-in on the selection meeting despite not being a selector. It was a move that might have intimidated another panel. He does effectively employ them, after all. The fact is, after nearly a year in office, Downton has broken the ECB's own confidentiality agreement over the Pietersen debacle and seen the men's team, women's team and disability teams suffer significant reverses.

Such issues can wait. England now go to the World Cup with a puncher's chance of success. There may be some days when that green-looking batting line-up fails collectively. But on the days they come off... they will be quite something.