I don't know how long I can captain England: Alastair Cook

Incumbent England skipper Alastair Cook remains to be pessimistic about retaining the England captaincy in spite of doing a fairly decent job in recent times. Cook also is the only Englishman to cross over and score 10,000 runs in Test cricket wherein he overtook Graham Gooch in the series against Sri Lanka.

However, in recent times, Cook’s side has been on the receiving end of a few results. Following the 2-2 draw against Pakistan, Cook’s England was defeated in the final Test at Chittagong which enabled Bangladesh to square the series 1-1. With two results against him already, another adverse result against him, it seems clear that the England selectors are on the lookout elsewhere.

“Deep down I don’t know how much longer I am going to carry on,” he said in an interview with this month’s Cricketer magazine quoted by The Times newspaper.

“It could be two months, it could be a year.”

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“I do look forward to the day when hopefully I can play a Test match as just a batter, there’s no doubt about that,” said Cook.

“There have been some tough moments and amazing moments and you can enjoy that success that little bit more because of what you go through as England captain.”

He also spoke on fielding at first slip. “If that happens I am going to really enjoy standing at first slip and being the bloke who makes suggestions to whoever’s in charge and not being the bloke who has to make the final decision

Michael Vaughan was also quick to point out the same. “These next six or seven weeks are not crucial for Cook, he is breaking records and he has four or five years left as a batsman, if his mind wants to play that long,” said Vaughan.

“He’d be a real good sounding board and be able to see when the new captain is under stress. He would be the perfect foil.”

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