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Unfair that I bore the brunt for KP sacking: Alastair Cook

Cricket
KSportsWatch Desk
By KSportsWatch Desk
As he sat at Lord’s on Tuesday (February 7) and reflected on his time as England captain, Alastair Cook has admitted he felt the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) “left me out to dry and little bit” in their handling of Kevin Pietersen’s sacking from the England team in 2014.

During the 5-0 defeat in Australia during the winter of 2013/14, rumours of discontent within the team had surfaced and Pietersen was deemed the major culprit, the ECB saying they wanted to move on without him and have ‘everyone pulling in the same direction and able to trust each other.’ KP Cook

A period of sustained vitriol then followed which intensified as England lost a Test series to Sri Lanka during the early English summer. It was the most difficult period of Cook’s captaincy and much of it had to do with his perceived role in Pietersen’s removal, a decision that split English cricket down the middle.

“It was obviously a big part of my captaincy,” Cook told Sky Sports. “I felt like it wasn’t handled particularly well by the ECB. I know I was the lightning rod for it, every person thought it was my decision. I felt I bore the brunt of that, unfairly in my personal opinion.

“As much power as you get as England captain, you don’t have the ultimate decision on that sort of thing. Yes, I was part of the decision-making, as six or seven other people were. I didn’t actually have that final trigger and I felt as if I was the only person who made that decision. It was not great to see and be part of it when it was all over the front and back pages and social media like it was. The responsibility as a captain and a player is to get cricket in the papers and in the public for the right reasons but for that six months it kind of wasn’t.

“I felt a little bit let down by the ECB by that one period, where they kind of let me out to dry a little bit. But that’s all gone now. It’s part and parcel of the challenge of being a captain. I can’t say now I have any regrets. I’ve tried, whether I’ve got it right or wrong, to do what was the best for English cricket at that time.”

It was at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl in July 2014, during the second Test against India, when Cook felt the tide turn. Short of form and with results not improving, the warm reception which greeted him, including a standing ovation when he walked to the crease and another on reaching fifty, convinced that he still had the support of the cricketing public.

“The reception I got at Southampton in 2014, things were as tough as it got for me,” Cook said. “That was a special moment for me that kept me in the job. It showed that the general cricket public actually wanted me to carry on and that was very special. I can’t thank the supporters enough, as well as my friends and family.”

Cook went on to captain England for another two and half years but knew after the 4-0 loss in India before Christmas that his time was up. “Getting on that plane leaving India, I would have been very surprised if I captained England again,” he said. “But I really wanted to give myself time to make sure it is the right decision because of what you are giving away. I didn’t want it to be an emotional decision.

“But it was quite clear when I got home, those thoughts didn’t change. I just feel it’s a job you have to do 100 percent commitment to drive the team forward at all times. But looking in the mirror at the end of India, I felt I couldn’t do that. In the last year, we have played some good cricket but we have lost eight games. We have kind of stagnated if we are being brutally honest.

“There is a lot of work that needed to be done and I just didn’t have that energy to do that. I feel responsible for that stagnation. The dressing room has been fantastic. The support of the players has been brilliant. It’s just I think that hearing a new voice could help.”

Despite the Pietersen affair, Cook was phlegmatic when remembering his time in charge: “I have been fairly true to myself along the way. I have made every decision, whether it be having a third or fourth slip or picking a certain player, thinking that it was the right thing to do at the time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. So, no, I don’t have regrets. I gave it my best shot. We won some good games and we lost some games as well.”

Joe Root is now widely expected to be announced as Cook’s successor, a decision expected to come within the next fortnight. Cook expressed his desire to play for another “four or five years” and to help England achieve more success, a presence that will surely help Root’s development as a leader. Cook has been a fine ambassador for English cricket and, even without the captaincy, there is plenty more left in him yet.

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