Alastair Cook Had Contemplated Resignation During Sri Lanka Series: Paul Downton
England team's managing director Paul Downton said that Alastair Cook was contemplating resigning from his post last month during the second Test against Sri Lanka when his tactical decisions backfired and hurt the side badly.
Alastair Cook has succeeded in pulling England out of Ashes defeat depression with two massive victories over India but the England captain was mulling putting in his papers during the Sri Lanka series, it has been revealed. England team's managing director Paul Downton said that Cook was contemplating resigning from his post last month during the second Test against Sri Lanka when his tactical decisions backfired and hurt the side badly.
The incident relates to fourth day of the Headingley Test when Cook's tactics allowed tail-ender Rangana Herath and Angelo Mathews to build a huge partnership and he himself go out cheaply later.
"He was very low that night and he went to his hotel room wondering, 'Do I really need this?? But he woke up the next morning and said 'I am in'," Downton said in an interview with BBC's Test Match Special. "That was all I wanted to hear, that he was committed to this job."
After England's defeat against India at the Lord's Test, a few experts had called for Cook's resignation and some advised that he should take a break but the England skipper is now back among runs and his side is on the verge of series-win over India. (Cook Right Choice as England Captain, I was Wrong About Him: Michael Vaughan)