No more Captain Cook many would say but those aboard his ship reckon otherwise.
The heat is on Alastair Cook, more so after England lost the Lord's Test to India on Monday. To exacerbate matters, Cook's form has deserted him; he has not made a ton in 16 months.
It appears Cook has the support of his teammates and more importantly the English management. Paul Farbrace, assistant coach of England, made it clear that Cook is still the man as far as captaincy is concerned, inspite of his continuing lean trot with the bat.
"Absolutely nothing has changed. There is absolutely no question he is our leader," The Guardian quoted the assistant coach.
It seems Farbrace and the English team have put their weight behind Cook.
"We want him to do well, we want him to score runs, and I think you saw today everybody in the ground wanted him to score runs. Everybody is behind him," the coach added.
The English skipper has been working hard during practice, and a return to form is not far away, according to Farbrace.
The 47-year-old insisted that he was not supporting Cook for the sake of it. He was of the opinion that the skipper remained calm, despite the loss of form.
Cook's prime focus was the team prospering in the India Test series, according to Farbrace. The 47-year-old added that Cook's leadership has not been affected by the lack of a big score.
"It maybe sounds like I'm trying to bull him up, but he's speaking well to the team - as soon as Moeen [Ali] came off he was sat chatting to him in the dressing room tonight. He's a very unflappable character. Very much his thought is on the team doing well," Farbrace stressed.
Farbrace's support comes a few days after English pacer Stuart Broad stated Cook should continue as captain. Broad also reckoned Cook needed a ton to overcome his loss of form.
"I certainly think Cooky is the right man for the job now and once he gets one hundred under his belt I think he'll get many more. I'm just looking forward to that hundred celebration when he does it," NDTV Sports quoted the bowler.
Cook, right from the arduous Australia tour, has had his share of critics. He was not the right man when it came to tactics, Geoff Boycott made clear.
"He won't make it as a tactical captain," said the former right-hander, reported BBC Sports.
Michael Vaughan also thought it was apparent that Cook was not having the best of times right now, and that it might come as a relief for Cook if the English Cricket Board were to leave captaincy matters to somebody else.
"We have reached the stage with Cook when he cannot be enjoying cricket. The ECB has a responsibility to Cook the person to do the right thing and if that means taking the captaincy away then so be it," wrote Vaughan in The Telegraph.
