'Strauss must stay and groom Cook'
"In the next week or two Andrew Strauss will meet with Andy Flower to discuss whether a fifth country will need a new one-day captain," writes Scyld Berry in the Sunday Telegraph
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
"In the next week or two Andrew Strauss will meet with Andy Flower to discuss whether a fifth country will need a new one-day captain," writes Scyld Berry in the Sunday Telegraph. "At first, on returning home, Strauss was inclined to go. After reflection, he should be persuaded to stay, at least for the one-day series against Sri Lanka that follows the three-Test series."
Alastair Cook, at 26, is far and away the strongest candidate to lead England into the 2015 World Cup in Australia — where pitches have tended to suit him — and New Zealand. But he is a man best equipped to bat all day, such is his self-discipline and strength of character, and by nature a Test batsman.
So the arrangements that will give Cook the best chance of succeeding as a 50-over batsman and captain will have to be elaborate, lest he starts off on the wrong foot and never arrives. He has to bed in first as a one-day batsman, without thinking about the captaincy as well.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo