LONDON - England coach Peter Moores said on Tuesday that Alastair Cook's removal as one-day captain has made his side stronger, as they fly to Australia to begin their World Cup preparations. Cook was stripped of the 50-over captaincy in December, less than two months before the start of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
It has left his successor Eoin Morgan with little time to adjust to his new role, but Moores, who was a member of the selection panel that opted to jettison Cook, believes England made the right call. "We'd got to a position where it felt like it was the right thing to do. It was a braver decision to change it," he told a press conference at Heathrow Airport in west London.
"I'm comfortable with that and I think we've got the right people on the plane. We've got to go out there now and we've got to perform. We've got to perform well as a team. We've got to go there with a strong focus. We go there with a strong ambition to go and win a World Cup." While Cook's form in his final one-day outings was dismal, Morgan's recent displays have been little better.
The 28-year-old Irishman averaged just 25.45 in 23 ODIs in 2014 and has gone 20 innings without a century, but Moores believes he will peak in time for the World Cup. "He will know that form can vary. He will be desperately keen to make sure that he fires as captain," Moores said. "He's a fantastic one-day player.
He has got a one-day mindset in how he goes about his cricket and I think he'll certainly be up for the challenge."
The team fly out to Australia on Tuesday ahead of a tri-series against the World Cup hosts and India, which kicks off a year that will also see England tackle Australia in a home Ashes series. With such a crucial Test series on the horizon, Moores is hopeful that the decision to leave Cook behind for the World Cup will reap dividends later in the year. "It's time for us to move on and also for Alastair to refocus," he said. "He's got lots of Test match cricket to come up this year. He's got a huge role to play in that, so he's got a clear focus over the next few months to get ready, to prepare, both for himself and for us as a team."