That’s the Way the Cook Crumbles

♦ June 24, 2014 ♦ Leave a comment

Most people are familiar with Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein attempts to create a human-like creature in his own self-image, only for his chemical experiment to turn horrifyingly and lead to the abandonment of ‘the monster’ in society, frightened, unaccepted and alone. Now read it again. Read it whilst bearing in mind some small alterations. For Victor Frankenstein read the ECB, and for his monster read Alastair Cook. It’s a similar situation; not that Cook was genetically created in a scientific laboratory exactly, but metaphorically. The ECB have tried to create a textbook captain in Cook. Someone who follows rules religiously. Someone who sets fields dictated to him rather than through his own creativity and proactivity. Someone who won’t upset the apple cart and maintains a good public image. But like Frankenstein’s experiment, England’s idea of an off-the-bookshelf captain doesn’t seem to be working.

England are on the verge of an extremely disappointing home defeat by Sri Lanka and seven Test matches without victory. And whilst the results themselves are disheartening, it is the manner of the defeats which worries greatly. Complete capitulation and humiliation at the hands of Australia followed by an unexpected defeat at the start of the English summer for the so-called ‘new era’ is not a ringing endorsement of Cook’s leadership qualities.

In the Essex man’s defence, he is still reasonably new to the position, he lead his side to a tremendous victory away in India not so long ago and does have an Ashes series victory already under his belt. But, those impressive victories came on the back of an exceptional period for England under Flower and Strauss and many of the same players were still in the side. It has been downhill ever since; in every manner. On the field England have played attritional, unimaginative cricket and off it they have looked amateurish with the handling of players like Compton, Carberry, Finn and of course, Kevin Pietersen.

Cook as a batsman, despite his monumental struggles currently, is very talented. The most centuries by an England Batsman and in the top five of England’s all time Test run scorers. But his captaincy does not have the same impact. When play goes ever so slightly against them, his immediate response is defence, normally far earlier than necessary. When pre-made plans go awry, he seems unable to make effective changes. He cannot handle criticism; he is media trained so much his answers in interviews are extremely uninspiring; and he quite clearly cannot handle any players with a hint of charisma.

No wonder the English public is becoming disillusioned with England at present. They want to see good cricket, they want to see the best players, and more importantly, they want to see results. How many of the three are they currently getting? None. Nil. Nothing. And it can only be because of poor leadership. Many quality cricketers exist in English cricket; cricketers which should be performing to a higher standard when in the England team. But it’s not just a personal failure on their part. It is a result of Cook and Moores moulding players to fit a certain style, a certain brand, a ‘textbook’ model. Players lose their individuality and creativity as players and they lose their edge. They can’t, and don’t, perform as well as they can and England suffer.

There is no coincidence that the demise of the England cricket team has occurred in conjunction with Cook taking over as captain. The talent is still there. The leadership is not. Like Frankenstein’s monster struggling to fit in society and be accepted, Cook seems to have very few fans amongst England cricket supporters. He should still open for England when in form because he is one of the best players, but he shouldn’t be captain any longer. The experiment has turned horrifyingly. Everything that could go wrong has. And that’s the way the Cook crumbles.

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