Strauss readying for Sky Sports as new captain Cook prepares for India

Alastair Cook has big boots to fill after being named as Andrew Strauss’ successor as England captain and it is 5/2 that he begins with a series success in India, which begins in November.

Strauss has stated that it was not the issues with Kevin Pietersen that brought the decision and instead his poor form with the bat, where he averaged less than18 from the three Tests with South Africa.

The decision to step down as captain was no real huge shock after England were knocked off the top of the Test rankings, but the fact that Strauss is to retire from all forms of a cricket is a surprise.

Strauss was only four matches short from equalling Michael Atherton’s record of the most games as England captain, while one more century would have taken him level in terms of registering the most 100s ever for England.

This legacy shows Strauss’ international success and it is just 2/1 that he joins the Sky Sports cricket television team in 2013, joining legendary names from England’s past.

Meanwhile, for Cook, his success since taking over the one-day captaincy has been impressive and he has long been touted as Strauss’ future successor.

Although Strauss’ record as captain speaks for itself, there were grounds to believe that he had no plan B and his conservative approach of attempting to grind down teams was not having the same success as previous days.

Cook is expected to have his own methods and the fact that he is only 27 suggests he could have a long future in charge.

It is 4/1 that Cook goes beyond Atherton’s record of 54 matches as captain, while 9/2 is the price that he win the most Tests as captain, breaking the current highest of 26 of Michael Vaughan.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.