Joe Root should lead England with Jason Gillespie as the Coach says Ian Botham

Joe Root should lead England with Jason Gillespie as the Coach says Ian Botham: It’s time to drop Alastair Cook and appoint Joe Root as the new captain of the England test team feels former English all-rounder Ian Botham, he also said that former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie is the perfect guy to take over as the new coach of the team.

Ian Botham was quoted by skysports.com saying: “The shake-up that the England cricket team has long needed is underway and the selection of Jason Gillespie as coach would be a perfect fit. But he should not be the only new appointment in the dressing room; he should be taking charge alongside Joe Root,”

He further added that it is time Cook accepts the mistakes he has committed and should take the responsibility of whatever has happened in the past few months. He switched to interrogation mode and asked when the team directors and coaches can be sacked for the poor performance of the team how can they continue with the same captain?

“It is time for Alastair Cook to move aside and take some of the responsibility for the mistakes that have been made over the last 18 months. He has seen off almost all the coaches and management from the debacle Down Under (2013-14 Ashes whitewash), he has seen (former director) Paul Downton come and go and now Peter Moores, yet he is still captain. How does that work,” he asked.

“Moores appears to be the man taking the flak and responsibility for what happened in the Caribbean but didn’t the captain pick the team too? The coach has been axed, part of which is down to a lack of international nous. Well, I want to know what Alastair Cook is doing with 100-plus caps worth of Test match experience because I’m not seeing it.”

At the same time he said that keeping the future in mind he wants to see Joe Root and Jason Gillespie work in tandem for the team.

“Cook is a fine Test batsman but he is not a captain. I would give the job to Root and tell him to mould an attacking team with an attacking coach in Gillespie,” he said.