Why England Must Drop Captain Alastair Cook from Their 1-Day Team

The heat is rising on Alastair Cook, even if the pressure on him may have cooled a little after England registered a victory in Sri Lanka.

Success in the third match of the one-day series on Wednesday means the tourists now trail 2-1 with four to play.

Cook will hope he is able to play in the next game on Sunday, with his team's slow over rate bringing up the possibility of a suspension for their skipper.

The opening batsman will definitely not want to miss a moment of the series—not only has the deficit been halved, but after managing scores of 10, 22 and 34 so far against Sri Lanka, he knows being sat on the sidelines offers an opportunity to someone else.

To that extent, one positive result won't stop people from asking—is England's current captain actually worthy of a place in their best one-day XI?

In his career, Cook has registered five hundreds in 89 appearances—the last of his centuries coming back in the summer of 2012. While his average is respectable enough in the mid to high 30s, the left-hander has now managed one innings of 50 or more in his last 16 outings.

You can be forgiven for thinking we've been here before. During the English summer, Cook's place in the Test team came under intense scrutiny, both due to his own lack of runs and also the poor performances of the side.

However, the 29-year-old resisted calls to step aside and instead worked hard to turn things around. He finally made runs in the third Test against India in Southampton as England fought back from defeat at Lord’s to emphatically win the series 3-1.

Now, just as he was earlier in the year when he came under the spotlight for his personal performances, Cook is determined to prove his worth. He was quoted by BBC Sport as saying:

"

I think you feel the heat when you’re not scoring runs. If you have two games at the start of a tour, and don’t score them, you’re naturally going to start feeling that. I’ve just got to do what I keep doing, believing in myself, doing my basics right.

"

His critics, though, will say that last sentence rather sums up the real issue with Cook.

In the modern game, when Twenty20 cricket has lifted the expectations of batsmen to even higher levels, he does not have the skills that can make the most of being in such a prime position at the top of the order.

Cook is more of an accumulator of runs rather than a stroke-maker; he does not strike fear into opposing bowlers. What has worked so well for him in Test cricket—patience, an ability to occupy the crease and grind out big scores—are not the kind of traits that are desired of openers in the shorter forms of the game.

The fact England opted to leave out Ian Bell for the third ODI, a player who has a remarkably similar record to his skipper and has actually performed better over the course of 2014, only heaps further pressure on Cook’s shoulders. Is he only keeping his place because he is captain?

The selectors are backing themselves into a corner by sticking by Cook with a World Cup looming on the horizon early in 2015.

It is not the first time England have been questioned over their choice of ODI skipper either. Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss were both fine players who did the job mainly because they also fulfilled the role at Test level.

The national selectors have shown a liking for continuity when it comes to leadership. You get the feeling if they could find a way to somehow shoe-horn Cook into the T20 team too, they probably would.

Yet the fact such a major tournament is just around the corner shouldn't rule out a major change in thinking. Cook is not a Mike Brearley type, where his captaincy can paper over the cracks in terms of his batting.

Four years ago, before travelling to the sub-continent for the last 50-over World Cup, the decision was taken to bring wicketkeeper Matt Prior back in from the cold.

Obviously to now replace both an opening batsman and a leader of the team does create more upheaval, but there are candidates to take over both roles from Cook.

Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press/Associated Press

There are certainly plenty of players pushing for a slot in at the top of the order; Alex Hales is in the squad in Sri Lanka and took Bell's place on Wednesday in Hambantota, making 27 from 29 balls. He could be pushed up one spot in the order, allowing James Taylor to get a long-ovedue opportunity at No 3.

Meanwhile Surrey's Jason Roy and James Vince of Hampshire are currently with the England Performance Programme in Sri Lanka and will be eager to gatecrash the ODI party.

As for the captaincy, Eoin Morgan would be the obvious candidate to take over, even if he too has found runs hard to come by in the 50-over format of late.

Joe Root, seen as a future England captain, and Stuart Broad, a former skipper of the Twenty20 team, are other names that could be considered. Bell is also someone who would be in the frame, albeit that it does not bode well for his long-term future that he was dropped for the third ODI.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Sir Ian Botham called for Morgan to be placed in charge immediately.

"

England do need to make changes and they’ve got to make them quickly. We are saying that the players that are here have a chance to prove their worth for the World Cup. But from what we’ve seen so far, if we are not careful, we won’t make the latter stages of the World Cup. 

"

England's selectors seem to be showing admirable faith in Cook, an honourable man who will not fall on his own sword.

In the end, a tough call might have to be pushed aside for the good of the team. The clock is ticking ahead of the World Cup, but there is still time to make the call before they set off for Australia next year.