Moores admits skipper Cook could be sacked
ENGLAND head coach Peter Moores has admitted under-fire skipper Alastair Cook could be sacked as one-day international (ODI) captain ahead of the World Cup.
Cook once again failed with the bat on Saturday as England fell to a 90-run thrashing against Sri Lanka, who now hold an unassailable 4-2 series lead ahead of Tuesday’s final match in Colombo.
The 29-year-old Test captain – who has led England to four successive ODI series defeats – has made 87 runs in five innings during the current tour with an average of 17 and a highest score of 34, while only notching one half-century in his last 21 ODIs.
Cook was named captain of England’s provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup last week, although Moores insists there are no guarantees the misfiring opener will retain that status when crunch selection decisions are made.
“Alastair has said very clearly that he is very keen to carry on, and wants to remain as captain of England,” said Moores. “He knows nobody has got the guarantee of that. I hear people say someone’s unsackable. That would be a ridiculous comment. We’ve got four selectors and we always pick what we think is the best team and that will no different moving forward.”
Moores and his fellow selectors – James Whitaker, Angus Fraser and Mick Newell – will announce a 16-strong squad on Saturday for January’s tri-series against hosts Australia and India, which will be cut to 15 on 7 January ahead of the World Cup. Moores added: “Every tour we go on, it would be wrong not to go back and look at everything that’s happened with the other selectors.”