Rush to judge Cook premature
Despite his impressive Test credentials, Alistair Cook has had to deal with plenty of criticism in his career
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
Despite his impressive Test credentials, Alistair Cook has had to deal with plenty of criticism in his career. The latest salvo came after he was appointed England's one-day captain. Considering he was not considered good enough to be part of England's World Cup squad a few months ago, some skepticism was perhaps justified. But Cook has responded with two fine innings against Sri Lanka, proving he has the potential to adapt to the one-day game. Writing in his blog for the Cricketer, Jonathan Agnew says Cook shows the folly of pre-judging class players.
Perhaps being named as 50-over captain, together with the questioning of his right to be in charge, has forced him to expand his game. But, so far, he has risen to the challenge very impressively and that should not be a shock to us. Cook is a very bright bloke, he’s got a serious Test batting record and he’s shown throughout his career that he is an incredibly quick learner. What’s happened in this one-day series against Sri Lanka has merely been an extension of that.
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo