Image courtesy of: EuroSport
“If you look at the record since he took over as captain, how many series and Tests we’ve won, that speaks volumes for him as a captain”
England pace bowler James Anderson believes captain Alastair Cook is not getting enough credit and respect in light of everything he has accomplished since the national team were dethroned as the world number one Test side in July last year.
In November 2012, Cook became the first England captain in 28 years to lead the national team to a Test series victory in India, and just recently, he guided England to their third Ashes win in a row as they beat arch-rivals Australia by a convincing margin of 3-0.
“He’s not getting the credit at all,” Anderson said. “If you look at the record since he took over as captain, how many series and Tests we’ve won, that speaks volumes for him as a captain.
“Just because he doesn’t set the strange fields that New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum sets, that doesn’t mean that he’s any worse a captain than him. Everyone in the dressing room is very fond of him. We love what he does as captain.”
Since taking over from Andrew Strauss, Cook and England have triumphed in three out of their last four Test series, with the only one they didn’t win being a 0-0 draw during their three-Test tour of New Zealand in March.
Under his guidance, England have also won nine out of their last 16 Test matches and only lost one, which was the first Test against India in Ahmedabad in November 2012.
Furthermore, Cook has averaged nearly 55 with the bat since taking over as leader.
“He leads from the front: in the main, the captaincy has helped his batting,” Anderson said. “He does deserve a lot more credit than he’s given. But, because he has the respect of the dressing room, he probably won’t be bothered that he doesn’t get the credit from people on the outside.”
Anderson was also infuriated at the fact that the Hot Spot technology will not be available during the upcoming Ashes series, which gets underway on November 21 in Brisbane.
“It’s a little bit frustrating,” Anderson admitted. “We’re in favour of the DRS because we want the correct decisions to be made. It’s still early days with the technology. Things might need ironing out but it’s the same with anything.”