“He’s no Mike Brearley” was a common lament about Alastair Cook. I’m sure I have heard that sentiment spring from the lips of Cook himself – without referring to himself in the third person – and it was not an observation based on the fact Cook has scored an enormous number of runs for England. He recognised that he had limitations as a captain.
But there is one point of contact with the old guru. Cook’s departure from the England captaincy has been more graceful and considered than anyone’s since Brearley, who left the job twice and who was garlanded both times: in 1980 and in 1981 after his little comeback.
There have been some chaotic terminations: in the case of Ian Botham and Kevin Pietersen, it was hard to discern whether their resignations were delivered before they were sacked; there have been sudden emotional farewells in the middle of series in the case of Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan; the odd resignation took place hastily at Antigua’s airport. Mike Atherton now understands all too well how inconvenient that must have been for a dutiful press corps; perhaps he already knew that at the end of the tour to the Caribbean in 1998. David Gower was sacked while wearing his “I’m in charge” T-shirt. He gave way to Mike Gatting and there is not enough time and little inclination to re-examine what caused his dismissal.
By contrast Cook pondered, pondered some more, had a chat with Andrew Strauss and realised his first instincts were the right ones. So he surrendered his responsibilities in a measured, melancholy manner. It was telling that Strauss recognised the signs and did not try to dissuade him – and puzzling when his mentor, Graham Gooch, revealed he had advised him to keep going.
Cook had been going for long enough, captaining the Test side more often than anyone. His record, after 59 games in charge, does not match Brearley’s. However, he won (24) more than he lost (22) and the same cannot be said of Andrew Flintoff, Alec Stewart, Atherton, Gooch, Gatting, Gower, Botham and Tony Greig.
This may be an unsophisticated measure of a captain’s worth but it suggests a certain competence. Yet Cook has been the most pilloried England captain since Douglas Jardine, who also possessed quite a good record, though a slightly different character.
The trigger for Cook’s vilification, much of it anonymous, as is often the case in the 21st century, was, of course, the Pietersen affair. It was striking that Cook should recall with special affection the standing ovation he received at the Ageas Bowl in the middle of the vitriolic summer of 2014. Cook, we know, avoids social media more than most, but the venom had penetrated as it usually does, which also helps to explain his comments about the England and Wales Cricket Board “hanging me out to dry”.
I once congratulated him on recalling Pietersen for the triumphant tour to India in 2012 and was taken aback by the response: “If it had been left just to me I would not have picked him.”
That tour, Cook’s first in charge as the official captain (he had deputised for Strauss in Bangladesh in 2010), might be regarded as his greatest feat while in charge. Pietersen was rehabilitated and batted brilliantly. So did Cook, who scored centuries in the first three Tests just as he had done in the two matches when he was in charge back in Bangladesh, a striking example of the positive impact the elevation to the captaincy can have.
In 2012 once they recognised – after the first Test – that it was a good idea to pick their best available left-arm spinner, Monty Panesar, two superb victories in Mumbai and Kolkota settled the series. It was all rather different in 2016 and not because Cook had become a worse captain. Rather here was another reminder that a captain is heavily dependent on the bowling resources available to him. Brearley would always acknowledge he had good bowlers in his armoury; in 2012 Cook had Panesar and Graeme Swann plus a fully fit Jimmy Anderson at his disposal, quite a contrast to those available in December.
One of Cook’s strengths and weaknesses as captain can scarcely be differentiated. He could be obstinate and given to tunnel vision. There can be merit in this in such a lonely job but on another day such a virtue can transform into rigid inflexibility.
A small example from way before he took on the captaincy comes to mind: we once discussed county cricket and Cook said 14 counties would be infinitely preferable – a very sound argument but how do you get there? “Simple,” he said. “Get rid of whoever are in the bottom four of the second division at the end of the season.” At the time two of those positions were occupied by Surrey and Yorkshire. The implications of their expulsion, while briefly amusing to me, did not seem to have any impact on his thinking.
Interestingly, he became more flexible as he began to tire. After being sacked as one-day captain and the subsequent departure of Peter Moores there was more time to contemplate. Cook became more receptive to advice from beyond a tight inner circle. In this period England’s greatest achievement was to win in South Africa, which was all the more remarkable for the fact Cook’s contributions as a batsman in that series were very modest.
In the end the slump in his run scoring must have had a significant influence on his decision to go. In India he often looked tired out in the middle; he must have recognised that his batting was in decline. After his century in Rajkot there was a catalogue of most un-Cook-like dismissals. Suddenly there was too much to do. So, after due deliberation, he went. It was the correct decision.
Now the challenge is to score stacks of runs for his new captain and he has been remarkably upbeat about that. He volunteered the notion of playing for another four years, which verges on the cavalier by Cook standards. Perhaps he is driving himself on in the manner of Hussain at the end of his career. The record of former captains as run scorers is not that encouraging – only Gower seems to have prospered – but such is Cook’s single-mindedness he can buck that trend.
My guess is he will fit back into the ranks more easily than most of his predecessors. He is not one to crave the limelight for its own sake. From his corner of the dressing room he may raise an eyebrow at the gung-ho nature of some of the younger batsmen and he will be on hand to offer help but only if it is sought. He knows the pitfalls of having a barrage of unrequested advice heading in the new captain’s direction, since that is what happened to him when he first took the reins in Bangladesh seven years ago. Brearley or not, Cook could be a tremendous asset for the England team and their captain for years to come.
