Dear Andrew Strauss, will the non-performing Alastair Cook be also axed?

The Pietersen-ECB saga is a perfect example of how the ECB is full of egoistic officials.

Director of England Cricket, Andrew Strauss denied Kevin Pietersen an international return, despite the latter scoring a triple ton in a County match. Using ‘lack of trust’ as an excuse to keep Pietersen away, Strauss and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) seem to have kept terms such as ‘skill’ and ‘merit’ out of their dictionary. Amit Banerjee discusses why Strauss should axe the non-performers after the New Zealand series if he truly believes in the welfare of England cricket.

England cricket is going through one of the lowest points in its cricketing history. It began with their disappointing tour of Sri Lanka in November 2014, losing the seven-match One-Day International (ODI) series 2-5. It reached a whole-new level when England suffered a first-round exit in the ICC Cricket World Cup. After an average tour of the Caribbean, where England failed to win the three-Test series, they are going through a phase of turmoil, this time due to the internal strife that are maligning the sport.  READ: England, Kevin Pietersen and the farce in name of cricket management

Kevin Pietersen has been having the ugliest of phases in the recent past. After getting thrown out of the team unceremoniously following the disastrous 2013-14 Ashes tour, Pietersen has not been able to make a mark in international cricket. Of late, Pietersen has been desperately trying to make his way back to the England team, including sacrificing the riches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for County Championship, in which he scored a triple-century. He was denied an international return by the Director of Cricket for England Andrew Strauss, who cited ‘trust’ issues with between the cricketer and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as the reason. READ: England cricket must be profoundly ashamed for its treatment of once-in-a-generation cricketer like Kevin Pietersen

The Pietersen-ECB saga is a perfect example of how the ECB is full of egoistic officials who care more about their personal egos than the welfare of their country’s cricket. The relationship between Strauss and Pietersen has not been the healthiest of ones; especially since the ‘Textgate Scandal’ of 2012 in which Pietersen had allegedly described Strauss derogatorily to some members of the South African team.

With the state that England finds itself in at the moment, they cannot afford to take such actions, especially when they have made themselves a laughing stock due to their shoddy performances in major tournaments recently. “My job is to look to the future of English cricket and develop a side capable of winning tournaments over the next four years,” is what Strauss was quoted as saying in his first press conference after becoming the Director of England Cricket.

If Strauss is truly a man of his words, then he has got a lot to prove throughout the summer. The first, and the most redeeming of steps that he can take is to axe the non-performers in the England side. And when mentioning non-performers, one can also cite the example of Test skipper Alastair Cook, who has been suffering from a chronic lack of form over the last couple of years.

While one can argue the fact that he performed well in the recently-concluded Caribbean tour, let us not forget the fact that he had an average outing with the bat following the century against New Zealand at Headingley in 2013. The next couple of years, his flaws were pardoned by the ECB, despite the fact several others were axed from the side. Most importantly, the opening combination was changed five times, with Cook remaining steady at his end each time. Nick Compton, who had a good run at the opening slot, was dropped mysteriously from the side; while Cook was given several live, despite scoring only 1,116 runs in 35 innings at an average of 31.88 during the period between 2013 and 2014.

Cook therefore, must be kept under a close watch during the upcoming series against New Zealand, followed by the Ashes. While Cook will be expected to be on his toes throughout the summer in order to not give his critics a chance to scream at him, Strauss should not go lenient on him should he fail with the bat, even if he has offered him full support for his former opening partner. It is only when Strauss takes actions such as these that he is truly looking to the future of English cricket.

(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)

About the Author

•