Cook lacks fire power to lead England: Chappell

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell thinks Alastair Cook lacks fire power to lead the England team and that Australia will not find it too difficult to win the one day series quite comfortably. He also added that the visitors are looking terrible on the field and lack confidence to move forward.

In an interview for PTI Chappell said, "I don't think Cook has it in him to be a good captain and he'll always struggle against an aggressive leader like Michael Clarke."

Cook's poor form continued in the Ashes as they young skipper could only manage 246 runs in 10 innings. Furthermore, his captaincy was nothing to write home about either.

A different format has done nothing to alleviate England's troubles as the Australian side inflicted yet another humiliating defeat in the first of the five ODIs on the tourists after the Ashes rout. Chappell believes that without pace bowler Stuart Broad, the English pace attack lacks wicket-taking ability and the hosts would continue to torment their opponents in the ongoing ODI series as well.

"Australia will comfortably win the ODI series. England is terrible in the field and the bowling without (Stuart) Broad lacks wicket-taking potential," said Chappell.

Stuart Broad was the most successful bowler for England in the Ashes but was rested by England management for the first couple of ODI games. The fast bowler had a decent series taking 21 wickets in the five Tests.

Things have been going from bad to worse for England as reports have emerged of breakdown of relations between England team director Andy Flower and star batsman Kevin Pietersen. This has raised clouds of uncertainty over Pietersen's future in the team. However, Chappell feels that KP is still one of the best players England has got.

"Pietersen is one of the better England players. Why drop a good player?," he asked.

"I don't believe in fall guys you either pick or drop players because you think they'll improve the side or they're having an adverse affect on the team."

Australia will find themselves tested next month when they face a tough overseas assignment in the form of world no. 1 Test nation, South Africa. The Australian great admits he is expecting a riveting series and that Australia will have to concentrate on addressing their 'shaky batting' issues.

"Yes, Australia will be really tested by South Africa, as their batting is shaky and they cant expect the lower order to keep bailing them out. However, they have a strong attack, more versatile than South Africa, and Clarke is a far better captain than Smith. They'll be competitive," he concluded.