EVERYONE here at Essex is delighted Alastair Cook has been named as England’s new one-day captain.

We had an inkling that it might happen and I think it was the obvious choice, even though he has not played that much for England’s 50-over side recently.

I think people thought he was too similar to Andrew Strauss to play alongside him in one-day cricket.

But we know what a good white-ball player he is.

You need a mixture of counter-attacking players and steady players at the top of the order. And Cookie is one of those players who can bat through 50 overs and get big centuries. In fact, I think he could have been named as Twenty20 captain too, rather than Stuart Broad. Maybe the England selectors didn’t think he could play as well in that format.

It will be a bit of a baptism of fire for Cookie this summer, with England entertaining Sri Lanka and India – the two finalists from the last World Cup. But I fully expect him to take it all in his stride.

And I’m sure he will be a very successful captain and put himself in the right position to eventually succeed Strauss as captain of the Test side, too.

FULL COLUMN IN THURSDAY'S ECHO