“Deep down I don’t know how much longer I am going to carry on”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

England captain Alastair Cook has hinted that his time in charge of the Test team is nearing to an end, but refused to say exactly when he is planning to give up the captaincy.

Even when he does step down as captain, Cook made it clear that he wants to continue representing England, but purely as an opening batsman.

Cook will break Michael Atherton’s record of 54 Tests as England skipper when he leads the national team in the first Test against India in Rajkot. Furthermore, he is also the country’s leading run-scorer in the format.

“Deep down I don’t know how much longer I am going to carry on,” Cook, who has scored an England record 29 Test centuries, told The Cricketer magazine. “It could be two months, it could be a year.

“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. 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.

“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.”

Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Vaughan believes that Cook could end his tenure as captain following the five-Test series against India or after the 2017/18 Ashes tour of Australia.

“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,” Vaughan told the BBC. “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.”