Triple-or-nothing for England cricket captaincy

The ECB has announced its decision to divide the national team captaincy between each form of the game. Following Andrew Strauss’s decision to retire from one-day cricket, the groundbreaking move has been made to introduce a three-pronged captaincy for the first time.



Test Captain: Strauss



In principle it will allow each captain to focus solely on their form of the game, without splitting their concentration. On the other hand, it’s an undeniable prerequisite for split loyalties and dress-room bickering.

Alastair Cook,26, has been named 50-over skipper and Stuart Broad, 24, takes the T20 leadership. Both young players have been touted as future captains of the Test team but neither would be drawn on that issue, insisting that they are focussing on what they both describe as ‘exciting challenges.’

Beckham in 2006

34-year-old Strauss announced his decision in a close-to-tears press conference reminiscent of one David Beckham after a poor 2006 football World Cup. In that instance Beckham was cast aside by new management, but Strauss surely need not fear any backlash in this instance after announcing his decision to retain the Test captaincy.

“I’ve enjoyed my time as one-day captain immensely,” said the Middlesex opening batsman, “and I’m extremely proud of the strides we have made in limited-overs cricket in the last two years.”

Head coach Andy Flower, 43, called the move “exciting.” “We’re covering new ground,” he went on, “we don’t know 100% whether it will work and be the most effective and efficient system... but with the quality of the people we’ve got around us, I think we form a good leadership team.”

Flower himself recently signed a new deal to stay with England. The Zimbabwean had been approached by T20 world champions India, but chose to remain loyal to England and build on back-to-back Ashes honours by reaching top spot in the world Test rankings, a position currently held by India.

The world champions meanwhile have recruited Flower’s compatriot and England predecessor Duncan Fletcher to fill the vacant coach position. The 62-year-old will be under pressure to succeed with a team already at the top of the international game.