Alastair Cook sacked as England ODI captain; Eoin Morgan to lead at World Cup

Alastair Cook walks back to the pavilion after his dismissal during the seventh and final ODI against Sri Lanka

Alastair Cook’s charge of the England ODI team looks to be over, after England selectors announced his sack on the back of a selection meeting on Friday. The selectors are understood to have made the call on Friday afternoon after a selection meeting at Trent Bridge. Eoin Morgan is set to take over as captain of his nation in the shorter format, while Cook is to remain at the helm of England’s Test side.

There have been several calls to replace Cook as captain because of his own poor form and a string of poor results delivered by his team. He has scored just one fifty in his last 22 innings for England, and after the 2-5 series defeat to Sri Lanka he himself admitted he would have “no complaints” if he was indeed sacked.

According to sources, the 29-year-old will possibly not be selected for the World Cup squad either, and can concentrate solely on the Ashes series in 2015.

England meet Australia for an ODI series after Christmas, before heading Down Under for the World Cup in February. Gary Ballance, the Yorkshire batsman, is likely to replace Cook in the England squad, while Eoin Morgan is set to have a baptism by fire by making his captaincy debut against Australia.

Alastair Cook dropped as England one-day captain. By @selvecricket http://t.co/NigRqAo5qM (Photo: Rex) pic.twitter.com/60nqD8ID5A

— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) December 19, 2014