With England on the brink of another humiliating defeat, and this time without an Aussie in sight (although Shane Warne is within ear shot I believe) Alastair Cook must be sensing the click, click, clicking of the gas igniting the flame beneath the caldron he currently sits in.
The honeymoon period Alastair enjoyed after taking over from Andrew Strauss has gone. The apparent midas touch a thing of the past, with this pending series loss coming on the back of the depressing and heavy 5-0 white wash in Australia. You probably wouldn't believe this, but prior to that Alastair had only tasted defeat in one of his opening 16 tests as captain, winning 9 of them.
However gIven that people had begun to question Cook's 'safe' captaincy during the 3-0 test win against Australia last summer and the way this current test has unfolded, with England at one time looking firm favourites to win, it should come as no surprise to Alastair that the number of people belonging to that group is growing faster than Old MacDonald's crops in this fine summer weather.
Another ingredient added to the pot of doubt is Alastair's batting. It has to be said that if Alastair wasn't captain he probably wouldn't be in the side at all. It's ages since we've seen him hog the crease, the elegant cover drives a distant memory and no sign of a return to form on the horizon.
His batting average of 33.92 for the 2013 calendar year was the worst posted in his career to date and the stats for 2014 don't look pretty either. A high score of 28 over 3 innings, an average of just 15.33 and his last test century over a year ago (some 22 tests no less if I've counted correctly) are not the stats a captain wants from his key opening batsman when his side is in trouble, so it must come as a great pain to Alastair that those happen to be his numbers.
It is obvious for everyone to see that Alastair is feeling the pressure, suffering from a food poisoning of the brain if you will consisting of Aussie chokes to start, a main that left you wanted Moore's, rounded off with a batting-burg collapse, all served up by that renowned stirrer in chief Kevin Peterson. (were these shoe horned puns sufficiently awful?)
Recent comments coming from Alastair back up this theory of ever building pressure, with him letting off steam at the Sri Lankians for their apparently dubious behaviour in running a man out during the one day series and requesting that "something must be done about Shane Warne" (how many English batsman have said that I wonder),
But when a captain is feeling the heat like this, what he needs most is for his team to stand up behind him. Things had looked good over the weekend with his new charged performing well with bat and ball, things were tasting good.
But suddenly the soufflé flopped, with a majority taking the standing behind your man thing too literally what with 4 of them following the captain to the dressing room in quick succession, but there are signs and reasons to stick with Alastair at this point.
For a start, the level of upheaval going on around Alastair in the team has been huge and although that shouldn't necessarily be used as an excuse for Alastair's poor performance, it may do more harm than good to the new faces in the team to replace Alastair as captain, they need playing a strong constant at the top to aid their performance as they settle into the test fold. I guess what I'm suggesting is that you suffer Alastair's poor form for the benefit of others performances both in the short term and the future.
The other thing against ringing the Bell to signal the end of Alastair's captaincy (yes that is another awful pun for those that spotted it) is that the timing isn't right. Doing so now would mean a snap appointment ahead of the 5 match series against India, far from ideal preparation for the main series of the summer or a good long term strategy for the team.
And as much as I respect Ian Bell as a cricketer, for reasons I can't really explain, I just have a feeling that he's not test match captain material. That might be unfair on Ian and be a point that you disagree on, but wouldn't it be better to yet this test side develop in the hope that a stand out candidate emerges rather than simply pass the torch as the recent trend has been? Surely Joe Root, Sam Robson or Gary Ballance feel like potential future England captains given time?
After the India series there is time available, with the next test series against New Zealand taking place until after the Cricket World Cup in May 2015.
Not only would this be an ideal opening home series for a potential new Captain to be thrust into, but there is also the possibility of letting Alastair sit out the hoard of one day games that follow the India series and clear his plate of all the mind troubles that currently consume him.
Who knows, allowing Alastair time out of the pressure kitchen that is English cricket may enable
him to rest,refocus and ultimately find a recipe for success that we can all enjoy? It's certainly food for thought
The Armchair Supporter
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