Cook should have taken Stokes off when Faulkner started smacking him around. His persistent bowling of ineffectual yorkers lost us the game.
Defensive minded Cook yet again misses the bloody point. Only had to get one more wicket to win! How many times in the last overs of one day games do you see slices over the keeper for four, yet teams still keep 3rd man as square as possible. It's more use having a fine 3rd man than fielders not in the game at cover point etc.
I said about three or four months ago (on and off here) that we (Hampshire) were being linked with Faulkner as our overseas player for 2014. First his performances with the bat in India during the Autumn, and now his performance with the bat on Friday, will surely only make him an even more attractive proposition.
As captain, at least, I would imagine that it is very likely to happen - especially after how down he has come across after today's game. Morgan to takeover as captain is the word going around, and I guess that would make the most sense. We've got just over 12 months until the World Cup. The sooner we stop opening with Cook and Bell, the better. Right now, we'll go into that with no chance at all. Aside from possibly Pakistan, I'd say we're the only major national whose top order in limited overs cricket is not packed with IPL and/or Big Bash experience. Hell, given how little county cricket with give to our primary international players, they've hardly even got any county limited overs experience in recent times. Hales, KP, Lumb, Wright. They might not all be Chris Gayle, but at least they have that experience and are known for teeing off. 300 is rarely more than a par score these days in 50 overs cricket, with only four men on the boundary. Ideally you need to be looking at 320. Likewise, 80 runs off the last 10 overs is rarely more than par. But we've got little chance of putting on 300+ most games with Cook and Bell in the top three, regardless of what form they are in.
