Mike Selvey says Cook given 'blank canvas' to start rebuilding England Test squad

Former England cricketer Mike Selvey has said that captain Alastair Cook and the team director have been handed a new, blank canvas by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to rebuild the Test team according to their strategies and ethos.

According to The Guardian, Selvey said that the spotlight will be on Cook now for, although the dynamic is already changing, with Andy Flower resigning as team director, Cook has already received the strongest backing from his employers as the man to take the Test team forward.

Stating that it must have taken considerable upheaval for Cook to change tack so dramatically after rooting for the sacked Kevin Pietersen's reintegration in 2012, Selvey said that now Cook has been given a chance to the team, which has been largely the one led by former captain Andrew Strauss, and has been given a blank canvas to work with.

Selvey believes that the process has already started probably with the decision of Eoin Morgan to withdraw from the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, adding that Cook is a cricketer of the highest calibre and he is as mentally strong as any who have taken the field for England.

Selvey also said that Cook is held in the highest esteem by those left, respected both as a single-minded, driven player and as an individual, the most important elements.