Cook remains England captain for World Cup 2015

LONDON: England captain Alastair Cook will lead the side at next year´s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand after being named Wednesday as skipper for an upcoming one-day international series in Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

He (Cook) will be our leader at the World Cup," national selector James Whitaker told Sky Sports after the 16-man squad for a seven-match ODI series in Sri Lanka in November and December was announced.

"He´s shown a huge amount of fortitude and resilience through the summer, and I´d like to make it clear we are 100 percent behind him as captain," he added.

Left-handed opening batsman Cook faced questions over his form and leadership throughout all of England´s recent home campaign but answered his Test critics by leading the side to a 3-1 series win over India following a defeat by Sri Lanka.

However, doubts about his suitability for white-ball cricket persisted following a 3-1 one-day international series loss to world champions India that included several thumping defeats. But despite a strike-rate of under 80, relatively slow by modern limited overs standards, he has, as widely forecast, retained his place as both captain and opener in the one-day set-up. (AFP)