Sydney: In a continued tirade against England skipper Alastair Cook, Shane Warne has suggested former bad boy Kevin Pietersen is a better captain than Cook and should return as England captain.
Just days after branding Cook as ‘‘negative, boring and very unimaginative'', Warne said the incumbent England skipper lacked the attacking mindset required to take his team back to the top of world cricket.
Warne said his good friend Pietersen, or even off-spinner Graeme Swann, was better suited to the role although the star batsman has had a turbulent relationship with teammates and England's management.
Pietersen was appointed captain in 2008 but resigned after just five months at the helm due to a dispute with coach Peter Moores, who was sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board on the same day.
Pietersen was also dumped from the national team last year after a spat with teammates over alleged text messages he sent to South African players that were critical of then captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower.
Warne, however, believes Pietersen's tactical acumen makes him the best man to lead England.
‘‘I honestly believe that Cook has to improve tactically if England are to become the No.1 team in the world again, and I do not think too many people would disagree with me,'' Warne said.
‘‘I am also speaking from the experience of playing under some great captains – and some who were not so great. If you look at the leaders Australia had when we did well and when we struggled, it generally reflected the standard of the captains.
‘‘If I had to choose a captain out of the England side it would be Kevin Pietersen or Graeme Swann. That may sound like an unbelievable thing to say after all the controversy of last year but I think KP has the best cricket brain in the team.
‘‘Graeme Swann is good too, as we have seen from his Twenty20 captaincy of England. They are both imaginative, good readers of the game and take the aggressive option first, whereas Cook retreats too quickly. He goes very defensive when he should be stamping his authority on the match.''
Warne conceded his criticism of Cook earlier in the week was harsh given he has lost just one match in 16 Tests, won the Ashes and beaten India in India in his first year in the job.
‘‘That is a pretty good record. But my point is that if you want to be the best team in the world, which England aspire to be, then you have to have more aggression from the leader,'' Warne said.
‘‘I played for 15 years in one of the best teams of all time, winning in all conditions against all opposition. We had some great players, sure, but we also needed a good captain with imagination.
‘‘You cannot just let the game drift and come to you. You may win more than you lose that way because you have quality bowlers but to be the best over a long period of time, you have to have a proactive leader.
‘‘If England want to be ranked second or third, winning more series than they lose, then fine, but it will not be enough to make them the best team of their generation which is the ambition we hear from the England players.
‘‘If you put Mark Taylor, Michael Clarke or Stephen Fleming in charge of that team you would see a completely different style of play; aggression combined with imaginative fields that would produce very entertaining cricket which is great to watch. It would also be the style of cricket that would possibly take England to No.1 in the world.''
