Why England need Alastair Cook to move down the batting order

[Bilal7]

With 'Baby Boycott' Haseeb Hameed finally putting England's opening woes to a rest, the cricketing world thought that Hameed would partner regular fixture and then captain, Alastair Cook, at the top of the order for the pair's foreseeable cricketing future.

However, with Cook now giving up the captaincy and free with focus on his batting and the rise of another, young opener in Keaton Jennings, England should look to plug the other gaping hole in their batting lineup, the preferred position of disgraced former great, Kevin Pietersen.

The #4 berth has been filled by the likes of Duckett, Buttler and Moeen Ali in recent times, with none of them, barring Ali, able to have any sort of success. The #4 batsman should ideally be an imperious player of spin, with the ability to grind out (or smash) big innings against a ball that has lost its shine and against bowlers that are just beginning to tire. Being one of the most important positions in the lineup, the #4 should also be free from any other distractions.

The batsman who fits this description almost perfectly is the stodgy former captain. Now of course, there will be those who say that Cook should continue opening in order to blunt out the new ball and make things easier for the rest of the lineup but the reality is, Hameed and Jennings are more than capable of being the best opening partnership in the world. They are both young, with mature head on each of their shoulders and like Cook, they possess the ability to blunt out even the best fast bowling attacks in the world.

What Cook would offer England batting at #4 is priceless. Here we would have a great player of spin to counter the slower bowlers of other teams during the long, middle portion of a days play as well as a veteran of over 100 tests to guide the younger players batting above and below him. He would also offer some variety to the otherwise aggro-style of the English middle order, with the likes of Moeen, Stokes, Bairstow and perhaps Buttler all favoring the boundary over the block.

Moving down the order will also help Cook. I've always seen him as a strange, rare opener. One who has always been more comfortable against the spinners and medium pacers rather than the fast bowlers and seamers. An unburdened, shielded Cook would be a rock that would be hard to crack for any bowling attack in the world. South Africa and Australia, you have been warned.

The coveted #3 position is also an option but again, that position requires one to be excellent against pace bowling ala a Hashim Amla and Cook would be at his best if he's kept away from the new ball from here on out. There is also the small matter of Joe Root, the "annoying little brother" turned new captain, preferring the one-down position and having considerable success there, albeit during a small sample-size.

The English lineup to face South Africa should thus look like this:

1) Haseeb Hameed
2) Keaton Jennings
3) Joe Root (c)
4) Alastair Cook
5) Moeen Ali
6) Ben Stokes (vc)
7) Jonny Bairstow (wk)
8) Chris Woakes
9) Stuart Broad
10) Adil Rashid
11) Jimmy Anderson

Thoughts about the idea? Comments on anything to do with Cook or the English lineup in general?

 

[Rayyman]

[MENTION=129948]Bilal7[/MENTION] you certainly overrate Cook as a player of spin. He is not that good.

 

[Abdullah719]

Bairstow should bat higher up the order. Give up the gloves, preferably. He has massive potential as a batsman.

Not sure about Cook in the middle order but it's an interesting proposal.

 

[Rayyman]

Why would you keep Cook away from new ball? He is a grafter not a strokemaker. At his best against pace. You don't remember him spanking Rahat? Root is the best stroke maker and he is a better option at #4.

 

[HitWicket]

Just move Root to 4 and have Jennings at 3. I'd keep Buttler in the team instead of Rashid as well and then have Moeen at 8.

 

[Mamoon]

Cook would do a great job at number 4, he plays spin well and has tremendous powers of concentration. Has all what you require in a number 4. However, Jennings doesn't seem like a long-term opener to me. He did score a hundred on debut in India after getting dropped on 0, but he didn't look that great. To me he seems like another Ballance who started his career with a bang but the wheels came off quickly. Haseeb however, looks class.

Along with Root and Cook, Bairstow is England best Test batsman and it is time for him to move to number 4 and hand over the gloves to Buttler. He is also a quality player of spin and has the ability to both consolidate and accelerate. Pretty much a complete batsman.

Cook
Hameed
Root *
Bairstow
Moeen
Stokes
Buttler +
Woakes
Broad
Anderson
Finn/Wood

This should be the England XI in Tests moving forward. In Asia, Rashid will replace Finn/Wood.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

That's bairstow's spot. England should stop wasting his potential.

 

[HitWicket]

That's bairstow's spot. England should stop wasting his potential.

Bairstow's been extremely verbal about not wanting to give up the keeping job and I'd say he's improved a lot with the gloves over the last year or so. 5 would probably be the highest he could occupy whilst keeping the gloves.

Cook
Hameed
Jennings
Root
Bairstow+
Stokes
Buttler
Ali
Woakes
Broad
Anderson

 

[soso_killer]

Keaton Jennings is mediocre really.
Cook is fine opening the batting.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Bairstow's been extremely verbal about not wanting to give up the keeping job and I'd say he's improved a lot with the gloves over the last year or so.

Yes, he has. But he's limiting himself by playing down the order. He has the potential to become England's best batsman not because of his ability(which he has plenty) but because of his mental game. It's second to none. He's a match-winner.

It's time to make Butler a regular. England has enough cushion to include Butler in the lineup. If they can tighten his defence a bit, he can offer what De Kock offers SA at 7.

 

[Sub-Zero]

The English lineup to face South Africa should thus look like this:

1) Haseeb Hameed
2) Keaton Jennings
3) Joe Root (c)
4) Alastair Cook
5) Moeen Ali
6) Ben Stokes (vc)
7) Jonny Bairstow (wk)
8) Chris Woakes
9) Stuart Broad
10) Adil Rashid
11) Jimmy Anderson

Thoughts about the idea? Comments on anything to do with Cook or the English lineup in general?

Bairstow at 7? he's like the 2nd best batsman, he should play at 5 at least.

or maybe Cook should open with Jennings and Haseeb at 6, if that doesn't work

Cook
Jennings
Root
Bairstow
Moeen
Haseeb
Stokes

 

[ahmadharis1]

Haseeb Hameed has played 3 matches and Keaton Jennings has played 2. I know they've played well but we shouldn't just assume their spot in the future of the team is secure, much less cementing their place as an opening pair

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

With 'Baby Boycott' Haseeb Hameed finally putting England's opening woes to a rest, the cricketing world thought that Hameed would partner regular fixture and then captain, Alastair Cook, at the top of the order for the pair's foreseeable cricketing future.

However, with Cook now giving up the captaincy and free with focus on his batting and the rise of another, young opener in Keaton Jennings, England should look to plug the other gaping hole in their batting lineup, the preferred position of disgraced former great, Kevin Pietersen.

The #4 berth has been filled by the likes of Duckett, Buttler and Moeen Ali in recent times, with none of them, barring Ali, able to have any sort of success. The #4 batsman should ideally be an imperious player of spin, with the ability to grind out (or smash) big innings against a ball that has lost its shine and against bowlers that are just beginning to tire. Being one of the most important positions in the lineup, the #4 should also be free from any other distractions.

The batsman who fits this description almost perfectly is the stodgy former captain. Now of course, there will be those who say that Cook should continue opening in order to blunt out the new ball and make things easier for the rest of the lineup but the reality is, Hameed and Jennings are more than capable of being the best opening partnership in the world. They are both young, with mature head on each of their shoulders and like Cook, they possess the ability to blunt out even the best fast bowling attacks in the world.

What Cook would offer England batting at #4 is priceless. Here we would have a great player of spin to counter the slower bowlers of other teams during the long, middle portion of a days play as well as a veteran of over 100 tests to guide the younger players batting above and below him. He would also offer some variety to the otherwise aggro-style of the English middle order, with the likes of Moeen, Stokes, Bairstow and perhaps Buttler all favoring the boundary over the block.

Moving down the order will also help Cook. I've always seen him as a strange, rare opener. One who has always been more comfortable against the spinners and medium pacers rather than the fast bowlers and seamers. An unburdened, shielded Cook would be a rock that would be hard to crack for any bowling attack in the world. South Africa and Australia, you have been warned.

The coveted #3 position is also an option but again, that position requires one to be excellent against pace bowling ala a Hashim Amla and Cook would be at his best if he's kept away from the new ball from here on out. There is also the small matter of Joe Root, the "annoying little brother" turned new captain, preferring the one-down position and having considerable success there, albeit during a small sample-size.

The English lineup to face South Africa should thus look like this:

1) Haseeb Hameed
2) Keaton Jennings
3) Joe Root (c)
4) Alastair Cook
5) Moeen Ali
6) Ben Stokes (vc)
7) Jonny Bairstow (wk)
8) Chris Woakes
9) Stuart Broad
10) Adil Rashid
11) Jimmy Anderson

Thoughts about the idea? Comments on anything to do with Cook or the English lineup in general?

You can't play stokes and Ali both in top 6, this is recipe for disaster, there is a reason that both average 30 odd with the bat , England will collapse very badly like last 6-8 month. England need specialist no.5 or 6.
Cook is ok with opening , not sold with Jennings, Rashid should play as South Africa will find him hard in compare to Ali. Only one should play Stokes or Ali .

 

[Pantani]

Excellent post Bilal. However I agree with Mamoon that Jennings is unconvincing. I would prefer to open with Cook until a better opener than Jennings is discovered.

 

[Buffet]

A+ for putting this post with some thoughts, but I don't think that Eng has two good openers right now to entertain such idea even if we ignore Cook's ability as a middle order batsman.

 

[The_Odd_One]

I actually like this idea. Middle order of Root, Cook, and Bairstow will immensely strengthen England's batting unit.

 

[honeybadger]

Early days for Haseeb and Jennings. Cook is one of the best test openers going around. Absolutely no reason for him to go down. Don't like Mo and Stokes ahead of Bairstow

 

[JaDed]

Root isn't a one down player,maybe move him to 4 and Cook to 3 and why is Bairstow almost with the tail?He should be after Root and defn before Moen.

One can make an argument for Jennings but don't understand the reason for Rashid there unless the pitch will spin,they need to have a team without Rashid as well.

 

[Kaiser_Soze]

Cook moving down is not in line with the thought of English cricket. He stalls momentum and that creates pressure on others. He is their best opener and if and when that is not the case ,he should retire.

 

[Rayyman]

Root isn't a one down player,maybe move him to 4 and Cook to 3 and why is Bairstow almost with the tail?He should be after Root and defn before Moen.

One can make an argument for Jennings but don't understand the reason for Rashid there unless the pitch will spin,they need to have a team without Rashid as well.

Root was an opener in 1st-class cricket. He is more suited to Top 3 than middle order.

 

[Ellipsism]

Why would you keep Cook away from new ball? He is a grafter not a strokemaker. At his best against pace. You don't remember him spanking Rahat? Root is the best stroke maker and he is a better option at #4.

Spanking Rahat Ali is no great achievement. He was lucky to go unscathed in Australia.

What makes you think you can't play delicate shots with the older ball?

 

[Bilal7]

You can't play stokes and Ali both in top 6, this is recipe for disaster, there is a reason that both average 30 odd with the bat , England will collapse very badly like last 6-8 month. England need specialist no.5 or 6.
Cook is ok with opening , not sold with Jennings, Rashid should play as South Africa will find him hard in compare to Ali. Only one should play Stokes or Ali .

Yes, you can definitely play a guy who scored four brilliant tons last year and a guy who can destroy a bowling attack on his day, together in the top six. England already have been. They just need to stick Cook in there so they have someone to help them keep their heads. Moeen and Stokes make England extremely versatile as a team and neither of them are going anywhere anytime soon.

Why would you keep Cook away from new ball? He is a grafter not a strokemaker. At his best against pace. You don't remember him spanking Rahat? Root is the best stroke maker and he is a better option at #4.

He's not at his best against pace. He's also generally struggled against South Africa and Australia. Perhaps not being the captain makes him improve as an opener but perhaps not. He'd be of more use batting at a spot where he likely won't be facing Steyn and Philander or Starc and Hazlewood first up.

What does spanking Rahat have anything to do with this?

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

Yes, you can definitely play a guy who scored four brilliant tons last year and a guy who can destroy a bowling attack on his day, together in the top six. England already have been. They just need to stick Cook in there so they have someone to help them keep their heads. Moeen and Stokes make England extremely versatile as a team and neither of them are going anywhere anytime soon.



He's not at his best against pace. He's also generally struggled against South Africa and Australia. Perhaps not being the captain makes him improve as an opener but perhaps not. He'd be of more use batting at a spot where he likely won't be facing Steyn and Philander or Starc and Hazlewood first up.

What does spanking Rahat have anything to do with this?

Test match is different from limited overs , you can't have players who may destroy attack in one innings or make daddy hundreds and then go on missing for 5 or 6 innings , as I said there is a reason they both average 30 odd with the bat after good sample size.
No. 5 and 6 is very important place so you need at least one specialist on that position if not on both. I have seen many time Ganguly or Laxman rescuing India from bad position.
Just think in May seaming conditions Vernon or Steyn destroying their top order and Ali comes to play at 5 and Stokes at 6 , they both try to attack and get out leaving England at bad position.

 

[Bilal7]

Test match is different from limited overs , you can't have players who may destroy attack in one innings or make daddy hundreds and then go on missing for 5 or 6 innings , as I said there is a reason they both average 30 odd with the bat after good sample size.
No. 5 and 6 is very important place so you need at least one specialist on that position if not on both. I have seen many time Ganguly or Laxman rescuing India from bad position.
Just think in May seaming conditions Vernon or Steyn destroying their top order and Ali comes to play at 5 and Stokes at 6 , they both try to attack and get out leaving England at bad position.

They average 30 because Moeen has been asked to fill a lot of positions over the course of his career and has yet to be given a permanent position, whereas Stokes had a poor start to his career. Stokes averaged 45 over the last year while Ali averaged 47, in 12 and 17 test matches respectively.

Just think, in May, their top order gives them a solid platform and they come out and destroy the South African attack. England win the match. Also, it's not like Ali and Stokes can't play defensively. They showed as much in India, and in Ali's case, in his debut test match itself.

 

[Markhor]

Surprised some are writing Jennings off already, how many Tests has he played ? He deserves to play the home summer at least.

As for the OP, its an interesting idea. England really need some middle order stability, they've not yet replaced Jonathan Trott. However Cook is a very stubborn individual and will probably insist on staying as opener where he's been all his career. So I'd move Root down to 4 and Bairstow to 5 - they've batted very well as a pair for Yorkshire in thr middle order.

 

[Rayyman]

Spanking Rahat Ali is no great achievement. He was lucky to go unscathed in Australia.

What makes you think you can't play delicate shots with the older ball?

Cook's batting style is much more suited to playing the new ball. He can play against the old ball, he just won't be as effective. Cook is a defensive batsman. His main strength is his technique. Cutting and pulling are his two strengths; And he has a high boundary percentage. Playing against spinners mainly requires playing through the V and square leg. A good spin captain can easily exploit Cook's weakness against spin by putting good fielders at point and mid-wicket. Then bowling a tight line. That's was Kohli did with Jadeja and Cook was all at sea.

Yes, you can definitely play a guy who scored four brilliant tons last year and a guy who can destroy a bowling attack on his day, together in the top six. England already have been. They just need to stick Cook in there so they have someone to help them keep their heads. Moeen and Stokes make England extremely versatile as a team and neither of them are going anywhere anytime soon.



He's not at his best against pace. He's also generally struggled against South Africa and Australia. Perhaps not being the captain makes him improve as an opener but perhaps not. He'd be of more use batting at a spot where he likely won't be facing Steyn and Philander or Starc and Hazlewood first up.

What does spanking Rahat have anything to do with this?

You need a beauty to get Cook out against pace. This is Desi Pakistani mentality to move your best players down the order. It won't work in England because your free-flowing players should play down the order in those conditions. Cook is anything but free-flowing as a batsman. Why would you protect your best player from the best bowlers? Cook is not YK or Misbah. He doesn't need to camp at #4 or #5 while youngsters verse the new ball. Jennings is a youngster why not protect him from Steyn and Philander or Hazlewood and Starc? Cook spanking Rahat is just an indication of how fluent he is against pace. He will deposit anything loose and your pacers have to be very tight against him. Clearly, he is best suited as an openere.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Cook will finish his (excellent) career as an opener.

No need to fix something which ain't broken

 

[TestMatch]

Has Cook always opened in domestic games as well?

 

[HitWicket]

Has Cook always opened in domestic games as well?

Yep, fairly sure he broke into the Essex team as an opener and got the opening role for them immediately.

 

[Ab Fan]

The two young openers deserve more time.Jennings is yet to open in England conditions. Opening in India vs Indian pacers is different to that in England vs Aussies/Saffers.

No point in changing Cook's batting position. You need one world class opener, a WC no.3 batsmen and a couple more 40-45 averaging players.

Moen Ali might be shown the doars for Australian tour as his bowling will be useless there(he couldn't do anything in India) and his batting will be pretty questionable against the likes of Starc, Hazle and even when SA comes to England(likes of Rabada, Philander and Steyn).The two tours are tough challenges for him.

Stokes is their best all rounder and they should keep only him as their only all round option in the top7 and play genuine bats only.

The lineup should be:

Cook
Haseeb
Root
Ballance(or maybe bring some other genuine bat)
Bairstow
Stokes
Butler( wkt/K)
Rashid
Broad
Anderson
Woakes/Finn

England need a peak Finn in their team to have any chance vs Australia. He has all a fast bowler needs for Australian conditions.

I may be harsh on Moen but having three <35 averaging players in top 7 is asking for trouble.