Hussain to Cook: Ignore 'repetitive' Warne

England

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has advised current skipper Alastair Cook to ignore the criticism from the media about his captaincy, and rather focus on scoring some runs for the Test side.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has advised current skipper Alastair Cook to ignore the criticism from the media about his captaincy, and rather focus on scoring some runs for the Test side.

Cook reacted angrily when asked about people like Shane Warne constantly questioning his tactics, saying he was sick of it and had achieved rather a lot in his time as skipper, that critics seemed to ignore.

Cook said when questioned about his critics: "Something needs to be done. For three years of being England captain, in my eyes, I have been criticised for a hell of a lot of that."

Hussain then responded in the <i>Daily Mail</i>, telling Cook to ignore the likes of Warne and not take it personally, as commentators were paid to give their opinions. Hussain said he had learned from his own past reactions to critics.

He wrote: "Captains are under so much scrutiny from so many critics that it's tempting to shout: 'Look, I'm trying my hardest!' But it's still not advisable to respond to Warne in that way.

"I'm not saying any captain can get it right all the time. I remember giving a three-fingered salute to Ian Botham, Bob Willis and Jonathan Agnew in the Lord's media centre after I made a one-day hundred batting at No 3 against India.

I had no personal animosity towards any of them, but I had used what they said to fire me up. And my reaction obviously told everyone I was pretty fired up. These things happen. We're all human."

He continued: "Some people will have listened to Warne over the last couple of years and wondered whether he's gone too far in his criticism of Cook. But I can assure you that Warne has no issues with Cook the man – just with Cook the captain.

"He's paid to give his views. It's true Warne can be repetitive. But he has a fantastic cricket brain and Cook should try to ignore the repetitiveness and focus on the content."

And finally: "It's not good taking on the media. You'll never win. Scoring runs and winning Test matches is the only currency that matters right now. Besides, I actually thought there were signs of progress in the way he led England at Lord's."

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