Cook: ODI Player

Alistair Cook’s recent form in the ODI’s against Pakistan has been superb. He now averages 42.30 in the 50 over game at a strike rate of over 80, which puts him up wit the best in the world. His performances are even more spectacular when you consider the number of former players and pundits who questioned his place in the ODI side following the world cup.

Spoiler:

However, to say Cook has silenced his critics is the understatement of the century. His ODI form has been nothing short of heroic. Since his first ODI has official captain in June 2011, he’s averaged 57.43 at a strike rate of 91.44 including three centuries. But has this had an effect on his test form?

From his rejuvenation prior to the 2010/11 Ashes series, to the end of the Sri Lanka test series Cook averaged an imperious 115.60 with five centuries and 4 fifties. However, since then, his average has been a considerably lower 42.85 with only a single hundred and a single fifty. Despite his struggles or limited success in tests, he averaged 58.37 in the English summer before averaging 56.50 on both tours of the subcontinent.



It is an interesting point as current England test captain Andrew Strauss suffered a similar fate when taking over the captaincy of both the Test and the ODI side. While his test form started brilliantly, it has been indifferent since the 2009 Ashes. His ODI form was very good in his final year before retirement from the format including a 150+ score against India in the World Cup. In this period he scored only one test century and averaged just above forty in the Ashes down under, where all his team mates bar Collingwood filled their boots.

There are more examples of players not being able to adjust to both forms of the game; following his slump in form after losing the England captaincy, Kevin Pietersen managed to regain his test form but has only passed fifty three times since 2008 in ODI cricket. Ian Bell has been a revelation for England since his recall during the 2009 Ashes but his ODI form since has been mediocre at best. Eoin Morgan is a little different. He has been a vital cog on the ODI side since 2009 and played numerous match winning innings but has not been able to adjust to the longest form of the game. The only player who has been consistently successful in both forms in Jonathan Trott, but even he has attracted criticism (unfairly in my opinion) for slow scoring in one dayers.

Spoiler:

So what is the secret to excelling in both formats? Is it having a completely different approach with two separate ways of playing, or playing the same game but being more aggressive?

Any feedback is welcome.

Stats do not include fourth England v Pakistan ODI

i dont know if cook needs to adjust to much- he plays quite similar in test or odi- the guy just got so good in test cricket a couple of years ago, when it was touch and go if he would even get another chance.

he is an opener- a purists batsman, the type that can push when he needs to and understand when he doesnt have to.

KP can play both formats as well- however a high level batsman!(has just been abit out of form in both formats recently)

its all about how good you are in my opinion! lesser batsman cant mix it up, cook can

Just a little more risk. Cook is intelligent and makes the transition without too much of a shift - no need to unnecessarily complicate things but what little changes he needs to make he's willing to make them.

Cook has surprised me with his ODi. I was one off many who questioned having Bell, Cook and Trott in the top 6, and in fact I still would, although maybe not with has much quandary as before.

Morgan is an interesting one at Test level. A lot of people think has the mentality to be top of his game in both forms. Having seen his Test career so far, and some of dismissals, I'm very sceptical. I'm not quite sure what it is about him that makes me think this - maybe it's some of his daft dismissals - but to me he lacks a brain for Test cricket. I hope I'm wrong and he can turn things around, but I'm having real doubts at the moment given the evidence so far.

liverbnz wrote:Cook has surprised me with his ODi. I was one off many who questioned having Bell, Cook and Trott in the top 6, and in fact I still would, although maybe not with has much quandary as before.

Morgan is an interesting one at Test level. A lot of people think has the mentality to be top of his game in both forms. Having seen his Test career so far, and some of dismissals, I'm very sceptical. I'm not quite sure what it is about him that makes me think this - maybe it's some of his daft dismissals - but to me he lacks a brain for Test cricket. I hope I'm wrong and he can turn things around, but I'm having real doubts at the moment given the evidence so far.

You don't need a brain to play Test Cricket. As the great former South African left-hander Graeme Pollock once famously stated when talking to Ian Chappell about the art of batting :- "It is a see the Ball, Hit the Ball Game".

gboycottnut wrote:

liverbnz wrote:Cook has surprised me with his ODi. I was one off many who questioned having Bell, Cook and Trott in the top 6, and in fact I still would, although maybe not with has much quandary as before.

Morgan is an interesting one at Test level. A lot of people think has the mentality to be top of his game in both forms. Having seen his Test career so far, and some of dismissals, I'm very sceptical. I'm not quite sure what it is about him that makes me think this - maybe it's some of his daft dismissals - but to me he lacks a brain for Test cricket. I hope I'm wrong and he can turn things around, but I'm having real doubts at the moment given the evidence so far.

You don't need a brain to play Test Cricket. As the great former South African left-hander Graeme Pollock once famously stated when talking to Ian Chappell about the art of batting :- "It is a see the Ball, Hit the Ball Game".

cant agree with pollock in fairness- i think you need a brain these days when switching between formats- if your just playing one format its much easier to agree

mystiroakey wrote:

gboycottnut wrote:

liverbnz wrote:Cook has surprised me with his ODi. I was one off many who questioned having Bell, Cook and Trott in the top 6, and in fact I still would, although maybe not with has much quandary as before.

Morgan is an interesting one at Test level. A lot of people think has the mentality to be top of his game in both forms. Having seen his Test career so far, and some of dismissals, I'm very sceptical. I'm not quite sure what it is about him that makes me think this - maybe it's some of his daft dismissals - but to me he lacks a brain for Test cricket. I hope I'm wrong and he can turn things around, but I'm having real doubts at the moment given the evidence so far.

You don't need a brain to play Test Cricket. As the great former South African left-hander Graeme Pollock once famously stated when talking to Ian Chappell about the art of batting :- "It is a see the Ball, Hit the Ball Game".

cant agree with pollock in fairness- i think you need a brain these days when switching between formats- if your just playing one format its much easier to agree

Well if you said this reply to Pollock, I sure that he will still maintain back to you that Cricket no matter what format it is played at still comes down to a see the ball, hit the ball game situation.

It obviously more than that. You could simplify every sport into a line or 2 like that. I'm not sure if Morgan can adjust his game to the situation, or worse doesn't know how to. Some of his dismissals come from out of nowhere due to him playing the wrong shot, getting his feet in the wrong position, etc which hints to me that he lacks something at this level.

t's alright having the nerve to go out and play your natural game and crack bowlers to all parts of the ground, but in and age when bowlers are getting cuter, a batsman needs to do his homework and have his brain in gear.

liverbnz wrote:It obviously more than that. You could simplify every sport into a line or 2 like that. I'm not sure if Morgan can adjust his game to the situation, or worse doesn't know how to. Some of his dismissals come from out of nowhere due to him playing the wrong shot, getting his feet in the wrong position, etc which hints to me that he lacks something at this level.

t's alright having the nerve to go out and play your natural game and crack bowlers to all parts of the ground, but in and age when bowlers are getting cuter, a batsman needs to do his homework and have his brain in gear.

I don't think Morgan is lacking anything technically nor mentally to allow him to play the game well enough at a test match level. What he should do is to just stick with his existing approach to batting in the ODI/T20 format and just go out there and go for his shots when playing in the test match format, as if he tries to reinvent his existing batting approach, technique it could damage his entire batting game.

Morgans problem is he doesnt think anythings wrong - a few days back there was an article saying he doesnt need to adjust to test cricket. I think he lacks the commitment because no professional should ever say that let alone someone who has failed so spectacularly in the only format that matters.

ShahenshahG wrote:Morgans problem is he doesnt think anythings wrong - a few days back there was an article saying he doesnt need to adjust to test cricket. I think he lacks the commitment because no professional should ever say that let alone someone who has failed so spectacularly in the only format that matters.

He hasn't really spectacularly failed in the test format as you have said. What he needs to remember is to just play his own natural attacking game and don't try to change it by becoming a more technically minded or a defensive player as he could end up just ruining his batting game.

ShahenshahG wrote:Morgans problem is he doesnt think anythings wrong - a few days back there was an article saying he doesnt need to adjust to test cricket. I think he lacks the commitment because no professional should ever say that let alone someone who has failed so spectacularly in the only format that matters.

He only mentioned his mental approach in that article and not his technique.

Most batsman dont change a thing, they just play more or less deliveries based on the in game situ or the format of the game.

mogs needs to do something either way or he will only be a t20 player.

If morgan is another KP- then great play your natural game all day long irrespective of the format and in game position- because KP plays best when he is confident and has stats that pretty much back up that there is no point him becoming defensively minded- he is one of a very few batsman that are good enough to play that way- basically a free role if you will! Mogs hasnt proved effective enough, enough times to have a free role

Stella wrote:

ShahenshahG wrote:Morgans problem is he doesnt think anythings wrong - a few days back there was an article saying he doesnt need to adjust to test cricket. I think he lacks the commitment because no professional should ever say that let alone someone who has failed so spectacularly in the only format that matters.

He only mentioned his mental approach in that article and not his technique.

Which is funny because most of us think its the other way round.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

Stella wrote:

ShahenshahG wrote:Morgans problem is he doesnt think anythings wrong - a few days back there was an article saying he doesnt need to adjust to test cricket. I think he lacks the commitment because no professional should ever say that let alone someone who has failed so spectacularly in the only format that matters.

He only mentioned his mental approach in that article and not his technique.

Which is funny because most of us think its the other way round.

That's the point. I believe he was asked about his approach to the game and to be fair it could well be fine. His technique on the other hand looks vulnerable.

Stella wrote:

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

Stella wrote:

ShahenshahG wrote:Morgans problem is he doesnt think anythings wrong - a few days back there was an article saying he doesnt need to adjust to test cricket. I think he lacks the commitment because no professional should ever say that let alone someone who has failed so spectacularly in the only format that matters.

He only mentioned his mental approach in that article and not his technique.

Which is funny because most of us think its the other way round.

That's the point. I believe he was asked about his approach to the game and to be fair it could well be fine. His technique on the other hand looks vulnerable.

As I have tried to painstakingly point out above, you can talk about how to approach batting by looking at it from many technical angles and perspectives, but at the end of the day batting actually comes down to simply being a case of being a see the ball-hit the ball game.

i think its time to stick him in the t20 side an all

gboycottnut wrote:

Stella wrote:

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

Stella wrote:

ShahenshahG wrote:Morgans problem is he doesnt think anythings wrong - a few days back there was an article saying he doesnt need to adjust to test cricket. I think he lacks the commitment because no professional should ever say that let alone someone who has failed so spectacularly in the only format that matters.

He only mentioned his mental approach in that article and not his technique.

Which is funny because most of us think its the other way round.

That's the point. I believe he was asked about his approach to the game and to be fair it could well be fine. His technique on the other hand looks vulnerable.

As I have tried to painstakingly point out above, you can talk about how to approach batting by looking at it from many technical angles and perspectives, but at the end of the day batting actually comes down to simply being a case of being a see the ball-hit the ball game.

And knowing when to leave it
And how to hit it
And guessing where it will go

Timing the ball
Shot selection
Judging the bounce, spin, pace.

Golf is also see the ball hit the ball. That's why we are all Tiger Woods.

you meant to say all rory mcilroy

mystiroakey wrote:you meant to say all rory mcilroy

Now, that's a completely new debate