“I actually think he’s a natural leader and I think it brings out the best of him with his batting”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Legendary Australia pace bowler Brett Lee and iconic West Indies batsman Brian Lara have both backed Alastair Cook as England captain, despite his recent struggles.

Lee and Lara’s comments come after Australia spin king Shane Warne gave Cook a scathing review following England’s 1-0 loss to Sri Lanka in the recently concluded two-Test series.

“I actually think he’s a natural leader and I think it brings out the best of him with his batting,” Lee told Sky Sports. “You’ve got to look back to some other captains who have struggled with their batting.

“It’s not that often where you see a batsman score runs and be a great captain at the same time; we’ve seen it with Mark Taylor, we’ve seen it with Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Mike Atherton whoever it might be.

“It’s hard to score runs and be known as a great captain at the same time. I’m sure when he gets back out there and really focuses on scoring runs, the rest will take care of itself.”

Lara added that Cook, who became the youngest player to score 8,000 Test runs, will regain his form in the near future.

“Alastair Cook has got to buckle down,” Lara said. “It’s not always easy as a captain if you have not got older heads in the team to call on but he’s got the opportinity with a younger group to see if he can mould them in the way that he wants to.

“People are very vicious at times if you get one or two bad results; the media are on top of you so I expect him to come into his own soon. He’s a bright guy.”