Cook should make the decision to resign as captain and stop hinting: Geoffrey Boycott

With the final day of the Test series well and truly underway at Chepauk, Geoffrey Boycott has hit out at England skipper Alastair Cook prompting him to step down from the position and stop hinting. In spite of the fact that England’s Director of Cricket – Andrew Strauss would go on to state that Cook’s job as skipper was safe, the 31-year-old has been hinting that a replacement is ready for him for a long time.

Boycott, a former England skipper in his own right has gone on to write a scathing report in the form of his piece in The Sydney Morning Herald. Perhaps it was only the likes of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, two of the most favorable performers to escape the scathing attack from Boycott.

“But he should make the decision to resign as captain and stop hinting. End the speculation. He is telling us that the captaincy has tired him out mentally and he has had enough. If that is the case then he should go, which would give Root seven Test matches in England to get used to the job before taking the team to Australia,” he wrote.

Boycott also went on to add that Joe Root would make a decent captain in the future. “Root will find his own style but I think it will be more aggressive and positive. Not all the time, I hope. Common sense needs to be applied sometimes, but he will have his close friend Michael Vaughan in his ear and that will help. He was a wonderful captain.

“As captain, Cook was cautious and conservative. That does not make him a bad captain or bad guy. He is a good person, an excellent batsman and it will be a sad day for English cricket if he is not our opening batsman in the northern summer or at the Ashes,” he added.

He also went on to lash out at Cook following a few blunders in the latter’s decision making. “Cook won four tosses in India and still lost the series badly. That tells me everything. The opportunity to bat first and score big runs when the pitch is at its best is priceless in India.

“With England having an abundance of quality fast-medium bowlers they talked themselves into believing that England could play to their strengths and pick plenty of seamers in each Test. That was a mistake and left the team lopsided, with too many seamers under-bowled,” he added.