Irani stands by Cook decision

Alastair Cook was unable to bring his England form to the Twenty20 Cup semi-final

Essex captain Ronnie Irani has admitted he agonised over the decision to hand a recall to England star Alastair Cook after the Eagles lost the first semi-final of this year’s Twenty20 competition.

Cook was made available to play in the match despite not featuring for Essex in the competition due to international commitments.

He made just nine runs off 16 balls and Irani concedes it was not an easy decision to play him.

“I was under a lot of pressure this week when it was announced Alastair Cook would be available,” he said.

“It’s been a sick two days, leaving out players who’ve done excellently for us this season.

“But was it the right decision to play Cook? Yes it was because he’s a great player. I thought he might take (Stuart) Broad apart but he didn’t have a great game.

“Alastair is an England player now and when he comes back he will be welcomed with open arms. My job as captain was to pick a team to win the game and that included Alastair Cook.”

Irani, a former England player himself, also had some encouraging words for Leicestershire’s young seamer Broad who returned 1-23 off four overs to celebrate his call-up to the 30-man England squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.

“Broad nipped it both ways, a little like Glenn McGrath does. You can deal with swing but he moved it well off the pitch,” Irani added.