Cook refuses to quit captaincy after Ashes Test debacle

Alastair Cook is determined to continue as England captain – even if he loses the Ashes 5-0 – until someone instructs him otherwise.
England's Alastair CookEngland's Alastair Cook
England's Alastair Cook

Cook appeared shell-shocked as he addressed his post-match press conference after England’s miserable tour had hit a new low at the MCG.

But he still had enough in him to defend his under-performing players’ Test pedigree, the coaching staff’s ongoing aptitude for their jobs and to underline his own readiness to carry on.

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A fourth successive defeat came by eight wickets after Chris Rogers (116) and Shane Watson (83no) completed Australia’s fightback from a first-innings deficit to once again trounce the tourists.

It was perhaps understandable, therefore, if, needing yet another action-replay take of his previous statements of resolution in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, Cook was not quite able to do it all one more time with feeling.

Nonetheless, as the inevitable pointed questions kept coming about his team, his leadership and their management, he put up a stout defence.

Cook made it clear he is no quitter, but understands judgments about his future as captain – little more than a year into his tenure – may yet be taken out of his hands. “I’m 100 per cent wanting to carry on.

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“If someone makes that decision, and says ‘we think there’s a better man’ or ‘you’re not good enough to do it’ then I have to take that on the chin – because as a captain, you’re responsible for the team.”

What, though, of Andy Flower and his back-room specialists – such as batting and bowling coaches Graham Gooch and David Saker?

“I’m fully supportive of our coaching staff,” added Cook.

“We’ve had some fantastic results ... it wasn’t so long ago we won in India with this same coaching staff.”

Their continued involvement may well depend on the outcome of a date with destiny in the final Test, which starts in Sydney on Friday.

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Cook knows he can still have a say then, but must leave the consequences in the hands of others. “They’re decisions which can be made later and down the line.

“That’s why people higher up than me are paid money to make those decisions.

“If they think that’s the way to go – with all those decisions, captain, coach, whatever – then that’s the way it is.

“We can only concentrate on what we do from now, try to regroup and put in a performance in Sydney.”

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Cook is in no doubt that a team of mixed experience – a nucleus of previous Ashes winners, himself included, along with some yet to establish Test credentials – can succeed for England.

There has been precious little evidence of that since they arrived Down Under, fresh from a 3-0 home success against Australia and with a fourth consecutive Ashes series victory on their minds.

But at the suggestion his current crop have either lost their edge, or are never going to have it, he said: “I think that’s a very big shout. We’ve some very good players in our dressing room.

“We’ve some record-breaking players who will have some fantastic days left in an England shirt.

“I know that for sure, and we’ll be praising them when they do that. We need that now, in Sydney... we need an outstanding 100 or an outstanding ‘five-for’.”

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