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Don’t take too much notice of Andrew Strauss taking a couple of weeks to find Alastair Cook’s replacement as England captain, there’s only one possibility – Joe Root.
The 26-year-old is not only the best player in England, but he has the best cricket brain of any potential contenders.
It matters not he has only led a side four times in 101 first-class games, as he sets out to fill the shoes of the popular and highly respected Cook.
For the record, Cook sits in fourth place among the most successful England skippers.
Showing the way is Michael Vaughan, who led England 51 times for 26 wins, or a 50.98 per cent success rate.
Next is Peter May, with 41 captain’s caps for 20 wins, or 48.78 per cent.
Third is Strauss, who led England 50 times for 28 wins, or 48 per cent, then Cook with a record 59 times as captain for 24 wins, or 40.67 per cent.
Strauss, as England’s powerful director of cricket, has a far more pressing problem trying to find a suitable opening batting partner for Cook.
Cook and Strauss are third on the all-time list of prolific opening pairs, with 4711 runs, behind West Indians Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes’ 6412, and the Australian left-handers Matt Hayden and Justin Langer’s 5655.
In recent times Ben Duckett, Alex Hales, the 20-year-old Haseeb Hameed, and Keaton Jennings have been tried as Cook’s partners with no consistency.
With the Ashes series looming in Australia next summer, England needs the yet-to-be-found opener to join Cook and Root in the top three. It’s essential.
And while the Ashes are predominant, there’s still Cook’s relentless chase of Sachin Tendulkar’s world record.
So far Cook has played 140 Tests for 11,057 and is in ninth spot among the all-timers.
But everyone in front of him has retired.
Cook averages 79 runs per Test, so if he plays 60 more Tests to equal Tendulkar’s caps – and at 32 that’s on the cards, barring injury – Cook can go close to the champion Indian’s total.
On current figures, Cook’s 200 Tests would net around 15,787 runs, just short of Tendulkar’s 200 Tests for 15,921.
With catching Tendulkar previously seen as nigh-impossible, it would be fair to say Cook has never been given enough accolades, nor recognition, for his outstanding batting for England.
It would also be fair to say that without the captaincy, and finding a suitable opening partner, the best of Cook is yet to come.
The run battle between Alastair Cook and David Warner next summer promises to be the highlight. And right behind them is the run battle between the two captains, Joe Root and Steve Smith.
Bring it on.