Cricket Statistics: Why Alastair Cook Should Be Dropped from England ODI Team

In the wake of England's humiliating defeat to India at Edgbaston on Tuesday, nothing better epitomised how out of touch England are with one-day cricket than Alastair Cook's unwavering confidence in his team's methods.

"The strategy does not need to change," Cook said when asked about the home side's approach after the nine-wicket thrashing, per the The Guardian. 

"But we need to do it better," he added. 

You'll be hard-pressed to find a more deluded comment. While other countries have rapidly evolved in the 50-over game, embracing its fast-moving shift toward the essence of Twenty20 cricket, England have been left behind, still approaching one-day internationals with a mentality belonging to a different decade. 

To catch up to their rivals, sweeping changes need to be made to numerous aspects of the current England one-day side.

Dropping the captain should be the starting point of that upheaval. 

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

If you examine Cook's record in 50-over cricket, the major thing that jumps out at you is how unremarkable his statistics are for a limited-overs opener who debuted more than a year after the first Twenty20 International was played in February 2005. 

Mat	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100s	50s
85	3039	137	37.51	77.66	5	19

Averaging below 40 and possessing a strike rate below 80, the England captain is far from the prototypical modern opener.

Not one to dominate attacks and unable to place extreme pressure on opposing bowlers, Cook's presence at the top of the order means England simply can't intimidate their rivals. 

To put the left-hander's record into perspective, you only need to look at the other prominent openers of his era, players who've scored 3,000 runs or more at the top of the order in one-day cricket since the turn of the century. 

Of the 20 opening batsmen to achieve such a feat, Cook's strike rate is 16th on the list, above only those belonging to Sourav Ganguly, Stephen Fleming, Upul Tharanga and Nathan Astle.

Rank	Player	Mat	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100s	50s
16	Alastair Cook	85	3039	137	37.51	77.66	5	19
1	Virender Sehwag	214	7518	219	36.49	104.72	14	35
2	Adam Gilchrist	203	7194	172	36.89	100.65	11	45
3	Sanath Jayasuriya	242	8213	189	35.70	91.77	21	35
4	Shane Watson	95	3882	185*	45.13	91.68	7	25
5	Hashim Amla	89	4531	150	55.25	90.00	15	24
6	Tillakaratne Dilshan	137	5549	160*	45.85	89.16	16	25
7	Gautam Gambhir	94	3367	150	39.61	86.48	8	21
8	Sachin Tendulkar	202	9040	200*	48.08	85.84	22	48
9	Marcus Trescothick	123	4335	137	37.37	85.21	12	21
10	Herschelle Gibbs	151	5104	153	36.19	85.13	16	20

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Much like his form in the Test arena, Cook's record in coloured clothing has also been on the slide since 2012. 

Without a one-day hundred since his 112 against the West Indies more than two years ago, the 29-year-old's numbers have been heading south for some time, seeing his average drop to just above 30 and his strike rate slump toward 70. 

Mat	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100	50
37	1106	78	31.60	72.66	0	8

But continually selected into the side during that lean spell, Cook has been one of the most regular openers in one-day cricket across that stretch. 

Alarmingly, the Englishman owns of the worst strike rate in world cricket among those with 1,000 ODI runs or more at the top of the order in the last two years. 

Player	Mat	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100s	50s
Shikhar Dhawan	37	1559	119	47.24	92.63	5	7
Quinton de Kock	22	1097	135	49.86	91.87	5	3
Hashim Amla	35	1675	150	52.34	86.83	6	6
Tillakaratne Dilshan	45	1859	125	50.24	82.99	4	12
Ian Bell	35	1378	113*	43.06	80.86	1	11
Rohit Sharma	37	1483	209	46.34	78.71	2	11
Ahmed Shehzad	29	1152	124	39.72	73.28	3	7
Alastair Cook	37	1106	78	31.60	72.66	0	8

And the poor numbers don't stop there. 

Openers, of course, carry the most responsibility in one-day cricket when chasing totals, given the way required run rates can rapidly get out of hand amid sluggish starts.

While time can often be taken when batting first, the tempo of the game has already been set when the second innings arrives. Openers have no choice but to follow it.

In that regard, Cook's numbers during his two-year slump are dire. 

Mat	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100s	50s
17	421	78	26.31	67.36	0	2

Michael Steele/Getty Images

As that record illustrates, the England captain has been woefully exposed since 2012 in the situations that demand the most from an opener. 

And more telling than the plummeting average is Cook's strike rate of 67.36—a figure descending toward Test level. 

In fact, from a strike-rate perspective, England's current leader has the worst record of all opening batsmen in world cricket (200-run qualification) when chasing a total across the last two years. 

Rank	Player	Mat	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100s	50s
25 (Last)	Alastair Cook	17	421	78	26.31	67.36	0	2
1	Aaron Finch	9	329	121	41.12	94.81	2	0
2	Quinton de Kock	9	209	84	23.22	94.57	0	1
3	Nawroz Mangal	4	213	112*	106.50	92.60	1	1
4	Kusal Perera	13	484	106	37.23	92.36	1	2
5	Shikhar Dhawan	25	985	119	46.90	90.69	3	4
6	Ajinkya Rahane	6	318	106	53.00	90.08	1	2
7	Chris Gayle	14	328	109	25.23	88.40	1	1
8	Tillakaratne Dilshan	23	980	115*	54.44	84.19	3	5
9	Gautam Gambhir	6	208	102	34.66	82.53	1	1
10	Martin Guptill	12	335	103*	33.50	81.31	1	1

Thus, despite Cook's insistence that England's approach doesn't need to change, the numbers suggests it does, highlighting that the captain is a major source of the team's malaise in one-day cricket. 

Change, therefore, must start at the top. 

All statistics courtesy of ESPN Cricinfo.