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Cricket World Cup: Andrew Strauss says England have work to do ahead of Australia and New Zealand event

'Captain Cook is under pressure'

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Strauss says Cook is under pressure ahead of the World Cup

Andrew Strauss says England have a lot of ‘difficult questions’ to answer ahead of the World Cup, including whether Alastair Cook should still be leading the one-day side.

After overcoming India 3-1 in the Test series earlier this summer, England came crashing back down to earth in the one-day internationals as they were beaten by the same scoreline.

The manner of the defeats – by nine wickets, six wickets and 133 runs - again raised questions over Cook’s position as captain, along with England’s limited-overs tactics and their team selection.

England aren't where they want to be.
Andrew Strauss

“We’re not where we want to be,” former England captain Strauss told Sky Sports News HQ. “Six months out from the World Cup you want to have a very settled side, know exactly what your game plan is going to be and be putting the final touches to whatever plans you have.

“That’s not where England are at the moment. There are a lot of question marks about the batting in the middle overs and question marks about Alastair Cook and whether he should be leading the team in one-day cricket.

“Those are difficult questions for them to overcome. They’ll really benefit from having a break, though. They’ve had an unbelievably gruelling schedule over the last nine months or so and just getting away from it, having a big sigh of relief before focusing on a big three or four months of one-day cricket is going to be of great benefit.”

Conditions

Following a two-and-a-half-month break, England return to competitive action with a seven-match one-day series in Sri Lanka starting on November 26. They then complete their World Cup preparations with a tri-series against Australia and India early in 2015 before the tournament gets underway on February 14.

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Strauss, who retired from one-day cricket following England’s quarter-final defeat at the 2011 World Cup, believes the pressure will be on Cook to lead by example in Australia and New Zealand.

“A World Cup in Australia, those are conditions that will really suit his game - playing on the back foot on quicker, bouncier wickets,” he said.

“But as the captain you don’t want to be the story yourself. You want to be able to lead from the front and he’ll feel a lot of pressure to be able to do that.”

England return to one-day action with a seven-game series in Sri Lanka in November, live on Sky

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