England coach Peter Moores said on Monday he understood why Alastair Cook thought of standing down as captain before leading the team to Test series glory against India.
England’s 3-1 win in a five-match series was completed in dominant style with a crushing innings and 244-run win over India inside three days at The Oval on Sunday.
However, prior to that campaign, England had lost 1-0 at home to Sri Lanka in a two-match campaign, after a second Test defeat at Headingley in June that followed a 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia.
“All captains learn as you go on,” Moores said. “But what Alastair has done really well, he’s got the No. 1 quality that anyone needs to get better quickly, which is humility. When he’s been successful, he still wants to get better and learn.”
Despite constant backing from Moores, in his second spell as England coach, and the new management team at the top of the England and Wales Cricket Board hierarchy — who had nailed their colors to Cook’s mast by citing the need to support his captaincy as a reason for sending star batsman Kevin Pietersen into international exile — the Essex opener did ponder his position as skipper after the Headingley loss.
Having resolved to carry on, he then faced calls from several former England captains to resign after the team fell 1-0 behind to India after the first two Tests of their series.
Moores, whose first spell as England coach ended after criticism from then-captain Pietersen, said Cook’s reaction to the Headingley defeat was entirely understandable.
“For anyone not to go away and soul-search a bit, if you’re captain or coach or player, would have been strange,” he said.
“He did that. He spoke to his wife, they had conversations, he came back and significantly, at the end of that Test, he turned round to Athers [former England captain turned Sky commentator Michael Atherton] and said: ‘I’m in this for the long haul. If people don’t think I should be captain then I accept that, but I want to be England captain.’ It was quite significant for him to say that publicly,” Moores added.
England and India are set to play a one-day international (ODI) series starting next Monday as part of both teams’ preparations for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, where India will be the defending champions.
Big-hitting opener Alex Hales has been called up to England’s ODI squad for the first time ahead of the ODI series against India.
Hales has previously only been used by England in Twenty20 internationals, but his impressive domestic form has given him a chance to stake his claim for next year’s 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
England says paceman Stuart Broad misses out to have “specialist surgical opinion with regard to his right knee,” but 11 other players involved in the recent 3-1 Test series win over India were included.
Limited-overs specialist Eoin Morgan bolsters the batting department and bowlers Harry Gurney and James Tredwell also have been added.
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