Captain Cook will be at the helm when England under-19s embark on what they hope will be a glorious voyage to Bangladesh.
Rising Essex star Alastair Cook has been handed the job of steering England through the World Cup, which starts next month, and will be hoping things are more plain-sailing than they were for Nasser Hussain last year.
Clubmate Hussain's senior national crew were sent off-course by choppy water at the offset of their world bid last year and Cook will be hoping for fairer weather this time.
For now, the young left-handed opening bat is just delighted to be skippering the good ship England.
He said: "I was asked while I was at a training camp at Loughborough whether I would want to be captain of the under-19s for the World Cup.
"Of course I said 'yes' and I'm looking forward to it."
Cook, who made his first-team breakthrough for Essex last term, will take charge for the tournament which begins on February 15 and hopefully culminates with final glory on March 5.
Initially, Nottinghamshire's Samit Patel was selected as skipper but a change of coach - Andy Pick replacing Paul Farbrace - brought about Cook's elevation.
Cook explained: "A change of management led to a change of ideas, with it being thought that Samit would already have enough on his plate as a batsman and bowler without the captaincy on top.
"So the change means he can concentrate solely on his cricket, which is better for the team."
More on Essex County Cricket Club
Published Wednesday January 21, 2004
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