The honesty that Alastair Cook displayed during the post-match ceremony at Lords was truly admirable. Rarely have I ever seen a captain speak so openly about his and the teams failures.

Thus, it has been extremely disappointing for me to see the lobby formed calling for his head. Notable TV personalities, media pundits, ex-players, below are 3 reasons why Cook is still the right man for the job:

1. Stick to your guns ECB – back your captain.

The ECB made it quite clear at the outset of the summer that they wanted to start a new era under Peter Moores and Alastair Cook. 4 tests in, 2 defeats later and changes from the ECB would now show a total lack of confidence in their own decision making.
The ‘New England’ made some bold moves, including the sacking of high profile players such as KP. I’m not saying that these decisions were correct, but it would be even more foolish to make further changes at this stage.
Moreover – who would be in line to succeed Cook? Ian Bell has himself been short of runs. Stuart Broad showed his lack of captaincy credentials in the T20 arena. Jimmy Andersen is not a long-term solution. And Joe Root? Are we sure? Only a few months back there was a belief after the Australian tour that he has been rushed into test cricket.
The ECB had long groomed Alastair Cook to be the successor of Andrew Strauss. And why not? He had time on his hand, a great attitude and most importantly had the performances to back up a full-time England captaincy role. His captaincy career started well too, including series victories against India, New Zealand and Australia. A victoria in India against India is a feat that not even the some of the greatest test captains of all time have achieved – notably Steve Waugh.

2. Learn something from the opposition.

Rewinding to December 2012 – I still remember the public images of Sandeep Patil in discussions with Duncan Fletcher following the unprecedented defeat on home soil to England. It’s ironic that people at that time were calling for Dhoni’s resignation, citing that he needs to follow the example of his opposite number Alastair Cook both with his on field performances and decisions. The same people are now calling for Cook’s resignation. A famous Indian newspaper headline read. “We have been cleaned out: it’s time for a clean-up”. But the BCCI stuck to their guns, most notably Duncan Fletcher, who was publicly vilified by ex-Indian legends.
Whilst the politics governing India’s leadership aren’t ideal, the patience BCCI have shown with Dhoni is something that the rest of the cricketing world should appreciate. It is no surprise that these best years of Indian cricket have been backed up with continuous leadership on and off the field. Whilst they have had their critics, the rewards of continuing with both Fletcher and Dhoni are there to be seen in what possibly is India’s greatest away victory (not forgetting the Champions Trophy victory too). Moreover, other leaders such as Fleming, Ganguly and Waugh didn’t have the best of starts to captaincy, but were backed strongly by their respective boards to be become one of test crickets iconic leaders.

3. Don’t blame Cook for the poor ECB governance.

An old cliché, but its true that a captain is only as good as his team. It’s clearly obvious the existing squad does not comprise of England’s best available players. The void left by Trott, Swann, Petersen and Strauss is a big one.
In my opinion, the team still requires a front-line spinner, an opening batsman, and potentially a 3rd seamer. The 2012 England team that beat India in India had the likes Compton, Monty, Finn and Morgan in their squad. The question I ask the ECB is what has happened to these players? Are they citing lack of form as a reason for poor man management?
What unfortunately has not helped Cook is the underlying dynamics and decision making of the ECB. The incidents involving Pietersen, Trott, Swann, Giles and the constant changes in coaching staff have not only de-stabilized the team, but have created a lot of uncertainty too – something which is visible through a lack of confidence in the current team.
A change of captain will not address the fundamental problems in the ECB.