Alastair Cook lays into England chiefs, saying: World Cup woe proves they were wrong to sack me

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Alastair Cook is not the sort to wash his dirty linen in public so for the England Test captain to launch a barely concealed attack on Tuesday on the management who sacked him before the World Cup is little short of astonishing.

Cook's words in Abu Dhabi, where he will play for MCC against Yorkshire on Sunday, will send shockwaves through an England hierarchy desperate to pick up the pieces from their disastrous World Cup when they go to the Caribbean next month.

Not least, they will concern under-pressure coach Peter Moores, who insisted in Australia that Cook was 'over' his World Cup omission but who must now wonder if his relationship with his Test captain is seriously damaged.

Former England one-day captain Alastair Cook was removed from his post in December last year 

England endured a disappointing World Cup campaign and were eliminated at the group stage 

Cook made no attempt to hide the hurt he has felt back home on his Buckinghamshire farm while England floundered so badly under his replacement Eoin Morgan that they could not even make the last eight.

'I think you saw in Australia the dangers of making such a big decision so close to a tournament,' said Cook of his sacking on the brink of the World Cup.

'I don't know what's gone on over there, and I can only speak from watching a little bit from afar, but it did look like the lads were shell-shocked from the first two games. That's when you need real leadership to steer you through that.

'I can't speak about what's gone on in depth but you always back yourself and I would have loved to have had the opportunity that was taken from me. The selectors made that decision because they thought it was best for English cricket. Hindsight has probably proved them wrong but now it's easy to say that.

'Whether I would have made a difference I don't know, but I was confident we would get out of the group. From there you just have to win three games in a row — that's how this World Cup has worked.'

Ouch. What a mess England find themselves in. They made decent progress in Test cricket last summer but that has been virtually invalidated by the crushing inadequacy of the World Cup squad — and Cook knows it.

Cook believes hindsight has proved the ECB wrong to remove him as captain before the tournament

'The Test team was in a good place,' said Cook. 'I wouldn't say all the confidence has gone but a hell of a lot of it has. It's a different format but all teams are grouped under the same English umbrella and we can't be naive enough to think that they're not.

'We have a repair job to do and the only way of doing that is by playing some good cricket and starting to win. We built that momentum a little bit after the Ashes 14 or 15 months ago with a younger side, including the likes of Joe Root and Gary Ballance.

'There was a feelgood factor about the English game in the middle of August after the Tests. Since then it's been tough going. We've got to rebuild again.'

Cook (right) feels England have to rebuild the feelgood factor that followed Test success against India

Cook (left) will lead England in three Tests in the West Indies in April, before New Zealand visit in May

Cook feels the ECB have highlighted the perils of changing captain so close to an international tournament

Eoin Morgan's England captaincy came under particular scrutiny during the poor World Cup performance 

Cook did not mention Morgan by name but there is little doubt that he proved a desperate disappointment as England's one-day replacement captain. Not only was he unable to regain the form that has largely deserted him over the past year but Morgan was not the adventurous tactician many imagined him to be. The Irishman also spoke such gibberish in public that he ended up saying he had 'no regrets' over the worst World Cup in England's history.

Whether he retains the one-day leadership remains to be seen but he has done himself few favours by insisting he will miss England's next one-day international against his native Ireland in Dublin so that he can play in the Indian Premier League. Cook may not have been able to arrest his own slump in form before the World Cup but history will now say that England did not improve by ditching him after backing him as one-day captain for three and a half years.

Now attention is back on Cook for a three-Test tour of the West Indies next month that is crucial if Moores — along with managing director Paul Downton and national selector James Whitaker — are to keep their jobs until this summer's Ashes.

At least Cook had some encouragement for the coach. 'There's pressure on him,' said Cook. 'There's pressure on all of us. All I can say is that I've really enjoyed working with Peter. He's a fantastic coach who just needs a bit of luck. I hope he gets the opportunity to stay and turn things around.'

Moores will get that chance in the Caribbean unless new chairman Colin Graves and new chief executive Tom Harrison swing the axe in their first weeks in office.

They will probably give all involved a little longer but patience is short and now England know that they also have a disaffected Test leader despite investing so much in him. It is a sorry state of affairs and one that can only be transformed by good results. And quickly.

Cook (left) was struggling for runs in one-day cricket when the ECB decided to remove him as captain

Cook believes that England would have made it out of their group at the World Cup if he had been there