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Ashley Giles' new England role crucial to avoid Andy Flower burn out, says Bob Willis

Image: Ashley Giles: claimed 55 wickets in 62 one-day internationals for England

Andy Flower's plate is too full at the moment so it's very good news that Ashley Giles will be taking over responsibility for England's ODI and T20 teams.

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Calm
For now Cook's challenge is to build on that impressive Test victory in Mumbai. His mentor, Graham Gooch, has always said that 90 per cent of Test cricket is played in the head and there's no doubt that England's skipper is a very cool, calm character. When he's at the crease he has an impressive ability to forget what's gone: if he plays and misses or mis-times a shot he just puts it behind him and gets on with the job, rarely missing out on a bad ball. India couldn't bowl at him in the end in Mumbai; he may not be as flamboyant as Kevin Pietersen (and he never will be) but he's every bit as unflappable. After the first Test defeat in Ahmedabad, he said 'this is a strong, resilient side - we'll bounce back from this defeat'. There were plenty of us out there who thought 'Really? In Mumbai? On Sachin Tendulkar's home patch and against those Indian spinners?' But he's really got the lads on his side; they all back him and answered those who wrote them off by not only winning, but by winning in real style. Cook is still learning the job as captain and our commentators were very critical of his field placing first thing on the fourth and final day when he didn't have a silly point in, but on the whole he's taken to it extremely well. He's inherited a conservative style of management from Strauss and Flower - they tend to go on the defensive first, which was underlined by their selection in Ahmedabad. But I think that, as he grows into the job - and this win will have done enormous things for his confidence - he'll become more confident about making subtle changes in the field. All of that bodes well not just for the remainder of this tour but well into the future, starting with all of the challenges that will present themselves next year. With Flower now able to focus more fully on Test matches, the signs are very encouraging.

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