Yorkshire batsman Joe Root is the strong favourite to take over with an announcement expected in the next fortnight, as England build towards the Ashes in Australia at the end of the year.

Cook, England’s leading scorer in Tests with 11,057 runs, became captain in August 2012 and led his country to Ashes glory on home soil in 2013 and 2015 as well as series wins in India and South Africa.

“It’s been a huge honour to be England captain and to lead the Test team over the past five years,” Cook, 32, who intends to carry on playing Test cricket, said in a statement.

“Stepping down has been an incredibly hard decision, but I know this is the correct decision for me and at the right time for the team.”

Cook’s decision to stand down follows England’s 4-0 series defeat in India at the end of last year, which put pressure on him to quit.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said a “proper process” had started to appoint a successor, with the team not in Test action again until July.

Cook, who also led England in a record 69 one-day internationals between 2010 and 2014, is the country’s most capped Test skipper and has scored more Test centuries than any previous captain.

He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2012 and ICC (International Cricket Council) World Test Captain in 2013.

He tendered his resignation to England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves on Sunday.

“It’s a sad day personally in many ways, but I want to thank everyone I’ve captained, all the coaches and support staff and, of course, the England supporters and the Barmy Army who follow us home and away and have given us unwavering support,” Cook added.

“Playing for England really is a privilege and I hope to carry on as a Test player, making a full contribution and helping the next England captain and the team however I can.”

England’s director of cricket Andrew Strauss said Cook had made a “fantastic contribution” and “deserves to be seen as one of our country’s great captains”.

“We now move on with the process of appointing the right successor,” Strauss said.

“There are a number of established players who are playing formal or informal leadership roles and whilst we’ve rightly not spoken to anyone in relation to the Test captaincy so far, we can now talk fully and openly within the team.

“We expect to be able to make an announcement before the team head to the West Indies on 22nd February.”

A classically elegant left-handed opening batsman, the square-jawed Cook took charge of the England Test team following Strauss’s retirement from the game in August 2012.

In his first tour as captain he led England to a first series win in India in 28 years, hitting centuries in the first three Tests.

His first Ashes series in 2013 ended in triumph and after a harrowing 5-0 whitewash in Australia in 2013-14, England regained the urn in 2015.

Cook oversaw a historic series win in South Africa in 2015-16 and last year England came within one win against Pakistan of topping the ICC Test rankings.

He went 35 Test innings without a century between May 2013 and March 2015, but the milestones have continued to stack up. He was the first England batsman to reach 10,000 and then 11,000 Test runs and sits 10th in the all-time list, 4,864 runs behind the record held by the great Sachin Tendulkar.

Cook’s mentor Graham Gooch, the former England captain, told BBC Radio 5 Live he had tried to convince the Essex man to stay in the role.

“This type of sportsman only comes once in a generation, maybe less,” Gooch said. “He’s a great man and he’s still got great things to do for his country.

After dismissing David Warner during Australia’s unsuccessful run chase, all-rounder Perera used language and displayed actions which could have provoked a reaction from the Australia opener, the ICC said in a statement on Thursday.

Fast bowler Starc was charged for throwing the ball in the direction of batsman International Cricket Council,Dinesh Chandimal who was inside the crease at the striker’s end and not attempting a run.

Both players admitted the offences and accepted the sanctions…

No play was possible at the Queen’s Park Oval on Monday’s scheduled last day of the match, the fourth consecutive day on which there was no play because of saturated areas around the playing square.

The farcical abandonment came despite long periods of sunshine and desperate efforts of ground staff to make the surface playable with shovels, pitchforks and leaf blowers.

Quick single: Pakistan’s delight at world No.1 ranking

With the match abandoned as a draw, India won the series 2-0, the first time they have won more than one Test in a series in the Caribbean.

However the Indians surrendered the position of number one Test team in the International Cricket Council rankings to Pakistan as they had needed to complete a 3-0 series triumph to stay top.

India claimed the series 2-0 // Getty
India claimed the series 2-0 // Getty

India had been number one for less than a week after displacing Australia at the top on August 17.

“As hosts, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and QPCC (Queen’s Park Cricket Club) regret that limited play was possible in the 4th Test Match between WI and India at the Queen’s Park Oval,” Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board president Azim Bassarath said in a statement.

“We have jointly launched an investigation to determine what occurred with a view to remedying the situation so that this does not occur in the future,” the statement continued.

“Once this has been done it will be presented to the WICB (West Indies Cricket Board).”

Bassarath gave no indication of a time-frame for the conclusion of the investigation.

Quick single: Kohli downplays loss of No.1 Test ranking

It is understood that prominent officials of QPCC, who celebrated the 125th anniversary of the club’s founding over the Test match weekend, are concerned that the farcical abandonment could jeopardise the venue hosting major international matches in the future

Pakistan are scheduled to tour the Caribbean in 2017.

The shambolic finale will be of major concern to the WICB, given that the agreement of the Indians to play four Tests in the Caribbean was seen as a major diplomatic triumph after the abandonment of a tour of India by the West Indies in October 2014.

India subsequently dropped their multi-million dollar compensation claim against the WICB after the tour was cut short amid a players’ pay dispute.

West Indies and India will play two Twenty20 Internationals in Lauderhill, Florida, on August 27 and 28 as both teams seek to tap into the huge expatriate Indian population in the United States.

Record-breaking off-spinner Muralitharan becomes the first Sri Lankan player to be inducted along with twice ICC Women’s World Cup winner and former Australia women’s captain Karen Rolton, her compatriot Arthur Morris, a member of Don Bradman’s ‘invincibles’ and England’s George Lohmann, the 19th century fast bowler who took 100 wickets in just 16 Tests. The four iconic cricketers were voted by the ICC Cricket Hall of Famers as well as members of the media. They will be presented with commemorative caps honouring their contribution to the game to mark their induction. Family members will represent Lohmann and Morris at the presentations.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson congratulated the four, saying: “The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises some of the truly great players from cricket’s long and illustrious history, and this year’s inductees thoroughly deserve to be in this highly prestigious group.

“Muralitharan has been one of the greats of the modern era. His guile and consistency over the years helped Sri Lanka develop as a very competitive side in both Tests and ODI cricket.

“We have in the list some very famous names of different eras. Lohmann and Morris were outstanding performers during their times and are part of cricket folk-lore, while Rolton’s performances have been recent and came during an era when women’s cricket became very competitive.”

Muralitharan, whose last international fixture was the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in Mumbai finished his career with 800 wickets in Tests, 534 wicket in One-Day Internationals and 13 wickets in 12 T20Is. He grabbed 10 wickets in a match 22 times and five wickets in an innings 67 times to make Sri Lanka a force to reckon with in Test cricket.

Known to spin the ball prodigiously, Muralidaran also played a big part in Sri Lanka’s ODI successes from 1993 to 2011 and was a member of the squads that won the ICC Cricket World Cup 1996 and shared the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 with India.

The Commonwealth Games Federation, which controls the second-biggest multi-sport event after the Olympics, said it was keen to get cricket back on the bill, with the Twenty20 shortest format of the game a particularly “exciting” prospect.

Cricket has only featured once at the Commonwealth Games, at the 1998 event in Kuala Lumpur, but CGF chiefs said their 71 national and territorial associations wanted it back in, provided a viable format could be produced.

“We’ve had some fantastic conversations with the ICC. It’s very much exploratory,” CGF chief executive David Grevemberg told AFP at the Commonwealth summit in Malta.

“(It’s) one of the priorities of the movement: all 71 nations and territories unanimously agreed that it would be great to have cricket as part of the sports programme.

“It’s not out of the question and, working with the ICC, we could come up with a really relevant and exciting format.”

At the 1998 Games, 16 teams competed in 50-over matches. Caribbean countries competed separately rather than as West Indies, while a Northern Ireland team also took part. England refused to send a squad as it clashed with the end of the domestic championship season.

South Africa beat Australia in the gold medal match.

Cricket is not on the agenda for the 2018 Games in the Gold Coast, Australia, but could potentially feature at the 2022 Games in Durban, South Africa.

CGF president Louise Martin said West Indies countries such as Jamaica and Barbados would “love” the chance to compete in a global tournament in their own right.

Therefore, “it would be completely different” to existing international cricket tournaments, she told AFP.

“Let’s think outside the box and open it up.”

She said any Commonwealth Games cricket competition would have to involve countries from each region, and give minor nations worthwhile matches and something to play for.

The format must also be carefully structured also to avoid major teams playing pointless one-sided matches against weaker opposition, the former Scotland swimmer said.

“We need to encourage smaller countries to be able to compete at major Games,” she said. However, “you have to look at the whole structure and what the strength in depth is. We don’t want whitewashes. I would hate to think that anyone going in against Australia or India are thinking they’re going to get nought. That’s not what this is about”.

She stressed discussions with the ICC were still in the initial phases.

“We’d like to have it back in again. The Twenty20 format makes its so much more exciting and you can do it in a shorter period of time, but at this moment it’s still in discussion stage.”

Sri Lanka Cricket Coaching Department’s request to the International Cricket Council (ICC) seeking international recognition for the home developed ‘Level 2 Cricket Coaching Course’ was accommodated when the ICC decided to send one of their nominated staff as an observer during the delivery of a said course which is to be conducted in June 2015. The Education Unit of SLC Coaching Department made this application a few months ago to the ICC seeking its endorsement and classification to the existing SLC Level 2 Cricket Coaching Course syllabus which was developed by our own local coaching staff who are currently assigned and working at the SLC National Coaching Department in Khettarama.

The application made, if successful in obtaining this endorsement by the ICC the SLC Accreditation Coaching Course Certificate, will hold International value to all coaches who have this status. Over the years cricket coaching worldwide and in Sri Lanka has become a lucrative form of employment with schools, clubs, mercantile firms and other business establishments throughout the country hiring cricket coaches to help develop their players, most of whom are involved at some level of cricket being played nationwide in which cricket is seen as the most popular sport in the country. Up to this time all Sri Lankan coaches seeking the Level 2 qualification travel overseas to countries such as Australia and England for this purpose, which costs the individual a colossal amount of money with regard to the course fee, air fare, accommodation and other expenses.
The existing SLC Level 1 Cricket Coaching Course is classified and holds the ICC endorsement on its certificates which is internationally recognized. Many take to coaching on a professional basis through the structured pathway to certain standards and protocols set by the SLC Coaching Department. It also has been noticed that many local cricketers who currently travel overseas seeking to play professional cricket also follow coaching courses of this nature as conducted by SLC, which helps them engage in some form of structured coaching overseas, and in some countries the coaching certification is mandatory prior to receiving a contract to play cricket.