Michael Atherton feels that England have made a bold move to remove Alastair Cook as one-day international captain ahead of the World Cup.
The 29-year-old was relieved of his duties following his side's 5-2 series defeat to Sri Lanka, their third series loss of the year, and has been replaced by Eoin Morgan as skipper.
Atherton believes that the England and Wales Cricket Board made the wrong decision to appoint Cook as captain in 2011, but feels that the move could be the best thing for the Three Lions ahead of the World Cup in February.
He told Sky Sports News: "I had grave doubts about Cook's elevation to the one-day captaincy three years ago. I thought it was the wrong call then – I thought it was a decision taken through the prism of Test match cricket.
"I'm sorry that they made it that way because we've got to a stage now just before the World Cup where there is a change of captain, which is not ideal.
"Let's face it, England can't do much worse than they have in been doing in recent times in one-day cricket. So it's a bold move, they've thrown a bit of caution to the wind; they'll send some young players out there to play with freedom hopefully and see where they go."
England play Australia in their next one-day international on January 15 in a World Cup warm-up match.
Simon Sinclair
