Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook handed England’s captaincy roles

England News: Andrew Strauss decides to focus on Test captaincy and career

England have decided to reshuffle their limited-overs teams by naming new captains for both ODI and T20 formats; meaning they have separate captains for all the three formats. Andrew Strauss has relinquished ODI captaincy to solely focus on his Test career, while Paul Collingwood has been removed from the T20 role as a plan to build for the future.

Alastair Cook is the new one-day international captain and Stuart Broad has been elevated to the captaincy of T20 side. While Cook has tasted that role before as he was the captain of the side that toured Bangladesh last year, Broad has never captained at the highest level.

"It has never been tried before so I am excited by the opportunity it provides us with," Andy Flower, the England team director said. "We don't know 100% whether it will work and be the most efficient system but we're going to give it a try."

England will miss Strauss’s batting abilities at the top. Cook will have to fill those shoes by improving on his mediocre limited-overs record. "I've worked hard on my limited overs cricket in recent times - I've never seen myself as a Test batsman exclusively and I know I have a lot to offer strategically and as a top order batsman in one-day cricket," Cook said. "I'm excited by the challenge of taking our 50-over cricket to new heights and I believe I can play an integral role with the bat as well as captain.

He further said: "I will continue to work closely with Andrew and also Stuart as we form a leadership team across all forms of the game. We have the chance to work together and share ideas which will benefit our cricket in all three formats."

Broad will make his captaincy debut against Sri Lanka in Bristol on June 25. He real test is not far away as England are to defend their Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka next year. Paul Collingwood, who had won England the T20 title in the West Indies last year, had already retired from Test side to focus on his limited overs career. He will continue to be available for selection as a player.

"It's a huge privilege to be named England Twenty20 captain and form part of a leadership team that I've no doubt will work well together with a great deal of synergy," Broad said. "I've always enjoyed playing the shortest form of the game and I relish the opportunity to develop my leadership skills as England's Twenty20 captain. As captain the chance to work closely with Andy Flower is an extremely exciting one and as current World Twenty20 champions I know there is a real responsibility to continue the team's recent success."

Andrew Strauss has set his goals on next Ashes assignments, as at 34 now he will not be available for the next ODI world cup in 2015. "Retiring from one-day cricket will also enable me to focus solely on the Test captaincy and our ongoing development in the Test arena as we also strive to be the top ranked team in world cricket.

"I look forward to working closely with both Alastair and Stuart as we work together to progress England's development across all forms of the game. Both Alastair and Stuart are proven world-class cricketers and both have outstanding leadership qualities which will ensure England's success for many years to come."
Two days ago, Andy Flower was confirmed as England team director in a permanent capacity, after his contract was renewed. Interesting times ahead for England and their fans!