Former England opening batter Alastair Cook feels Test skipper Joe Root and interim coach Paul Collingwood are deluding themselves by talking about the positives in the team’s recent 0-1 away defeat to the West Indies in the three-match series.
Following two draws, England — already reeling under the criticism of a 0-4 Ashes thrashing in Australia — lost the third and final Test at St George’s, Grenada by 10 wickets with the tourists scoring 204 and 120 in the two innings.
Cook, a veteran of 161 Tests and nearly 12,500 runs in the longest format of the game, said he was a “bit bored” of Root speaking about the positives after the series loss in the Caribbean.
While Root had said in the wake of the defeat that there were “many good things” for his side, Collingwood — who replaced Chris Silverwood as interim coach following the Ashes debacle — said he was surprised people were questioning Root’s position as captain.
“I am a bit bored with all the positive chat because I don’t think it was a sense of reality in that changing room,” Cook was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk on Tuesday.
“I don’t know what’s being said behind closed doors but I’m struggling to see as many positives as they are. And is that slightly deluded? The word’s been put out there,” the former England skipper opined.
Cook also felt that pace-bowling stalwarts, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, who was omitted from the Test series in the West Indies following the Ashes drubbing, deserved fitting Test send-offs, although he added that neither was looking at retirement yet.
“They’re right up there with the best bowlers ever to play the game. Hopefully, they do get that chance but tell that to Jimmy and he’ll say, ‘I’m not thinking about retiring, I’m still playing until I’m 75’.
“He’s thinking, ‘I want to get back in that Test side and prove they shouldn’t have left me out. But if you’re talking about deserving a send-off, of course, they deserve it. It makes it an interesting summer, doesn’t it?” said Cook.
