There were times when I thought of quitting captaincy: Alastair Cook

England Test skipper Alastair Cook ahead of the Test series against Pakistan admitted that he has considered quitting captaincy several times as there were a lot of questions and doubts raised. Cook had taken over the captaincy from Andrew Strauss in 2012 and has had a good run as the captain.

But there were some tough times as well, especially when England were whitewashed 5-0 by Australia in 2013-14. And he said that he almost quit the post more than once. “I’ve lived on the edge for quite a number of years as a captain in terms of wanting to jack it in and questions about the job,” Cook said.

“There were times when I thought I’d go, for sure. I spoke to my wife, Alice, about packing it in. I’d rather not say exactly when but I’ve got them written down,” he added.

In 2015, during the series against New Zealand he had decided to call time on his captaincy after the Ashes series against Australia. But, changed his mind after England beat Australia in the first two Test matches of the series. They went on to clinch the series 3-2.

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“I don’t like talking about it because you end up doubting yourself. But, yes, I was very close to going at the end of the Ashes last year. But we won two Tests in 10 days at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge and I woke up the next day and thought, this side has so much potential and I still want to be part of it,” the 31-year old said.

The England opening batsman would like to lead England to Ashes victory on Australian soil in 2017-18, but is quite aware that he may not be there for the tour. “If I feel the team is getting a bit stale, bored with me and the next generation is pushing on, then it will be time to go,” the England skipper added.

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Recently, Cook led England to a 2-0 series win against Sri Lanka. In the course of the series, he achieved a personal landmark by becoming the first English cricketer to score 10,000 Test runs.