Andrew Strauss is widely expected to resign as England's one-day captain following another World Cup failure but his coach, Andy Flower, insists that there will be no snap decision with a final resolution delayed until as late as mid-May.
World Cups have been natural watersheds for England captains of recent vintage with Alec Stewart (1999), Nasser Hussain (2003) and Michael Vaughan (2007) all stepping down, at least in one-day cricket, soon after the tournament.
Strauss's resignation was forecast before the World Cup and the expectation will intensify after England crashed out in the quarter-finals with a thumping 10-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in Colombo, but Flower insists that no definite decision has been made.
"Straussy and I talked about this briefly when a story broke speculating about his one-day future," he said. "So we have discussed it and he certainly shouldn't be making any decisions right now. And he's not.
"He's got a few weeks off with his family at home and so have I. We will be discussing this subject. He's still a very important part of England's cricket future and whether that includes one-day cricket or not, let's clear our minds, have a couple of weeks away from each other and we will have a clearer idea of the situation and the way forward."
Strauss's retention as Test captain, following England's Ashes triumph, is not remotely under scrutiny, but a split captaincy no longer fazes England and, at 34, he would be hard pressed to carry England into the next World Cup in Australia in 2015.
Five months away from home would tempt any cricketer, however committed, to contemplate retirement, especially one, like Strauss, with a young family to consider.
If he has an ambition in mind it must surely be to prolong his Test career long enough to lead England in back-to-back Ashes series in England in 2013 and Australia a few months later. And that might mean abandoning the one-day game to allow himself more time to breath.
"We should have an eye on the next World Cup," Flower said. "I think the planning for that should begin now."
England's problem is not as much that Strauss might stand down as the succession. With Paul Collingwood, the Twenty20 captain, also reaching the end of his international career, and Kevin Pietersen an increasingly unpredictable quantity, there is no obvious candidate to double up as a one-day captain at 20- and 50-over level.
This will also be high up the agenda when Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, chairs a debrief in early to mid-May.
Vaughan believes that a Strauss resignation is likely. "He is an outstanding Test captain and his one-day batting has improved over the last year or so," he said. "But he'll also understand that when he gets home and the dust settles he needs to decide what is best for the England team.
"You are away for so long. He has a lovely young family and it comes to a stage when he needs to ask himself if he needs to be doing that consistently and will he be at the next World Cup in four years' time. You have to say he probably won't be.He may carry on into the summer, but I have a sneaky suspicion that this was his last game."
No comments:
Post a Comment