Players convinced captain Cook to be part of Moores’ fresh start
ENGLAND captain Alastair Cook has revealed that intervention from his team-mates convinced him to carry on at the helm after a tumultuous winter.
Following a 5-0 Ashes whitewash, England stumbled again in the one-day and Twenty20 series against Australia before limping out of the World T20 in the group stage.
Head coach Andy Flower resigned and was replaced by Peter Moores, who takes charge for the first time this morning against Scotland in a one-off T20 international in Aberdeen, and Cook admitted that he too wrestled with personal turmoil over his role in the England set-up.
“After a long, gruelling winter I gave stepping down consideration,” he said. “We lost a lot of games and we hadn’t played to the standard the side was capable of.
“If you don’t question your position at that stage then you never will, but the guys I spoke to were great and very supportive.
“I chatted a lot to Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara in particular and they said ‘you must carry on’.
“It’s a huge honour to be captain, but you’ve got to be the best man for the job.”
England’s only previously completed match against Scotland came in a one-day international in June 2010 when former captain Andrew Strauss and wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter forged a 121-run opening partnership in a seven-wicket win.
But Scotland have won 10 of their 11 matches this year, albeit against modest opposition, and qualified for next year’s World Cup and Cook insists the Auld Enemy will not be taken lightly.
“It’s a banana skin fixture but you get tested a number of times as a cricketer and it’s about how you adapt to it,” added Cook. “The guys have been really good in training and we’ll be hard to beat.”