London, Feb 7: Former England cricketer Graham Gooch has said that left-handed batsman Alastair Cook must put scoring runs before captaincy as he leads the team to Bangladesh.

Cook has endured a difficult time with the bat in recent months and has been given the added pressure of captaining the side in the absence of Andrew Strauss.

Gooch, who watched Cook develop into one of the country’s most accomplished opening batsmen during their time together at Essex,” said: “Cook’s priority is to score runs, then the captaincy comes after that.”

London, July 23 : Former England captain and opening batsman Graham Gooch has advised Australia's out-of-form opener Phillip Hughes (57 runs in three innings) to expand the range of scoring options, but not change his unorthodox methods, in order to combat England''s tactics.

Gooch, who had a torrid time against Australian pace bowler Terry Alderman in the 1989 Ashes series, said that the current grueling initiation would do Hughes a world of good in future campaigns.

London, Feb. 9 : Captain Andrew Strauss has been ordered to get a grip on England before they completely fall apart.

The Sun quoted former skipper Graham Gooch as saying: "You've got to give massive credit to the West Indies for turning in a fantastic performance.

"But there are a lot of things to be concerned about with English cricket - not least the fact that England haven't got a steady hand on the tiller," he added.

Gooch was speaking after England lost its first Test to the West Indies at Jamaica's Sabina Park by an innings and 23 runs.

London, Dec. 2: Former England captain Graham Gooch doubts the England cricket team will return to India despite the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreeing to shift the venue of the first Test from Ahmedabad to Chennai.

"The players have returned home, they''ll have spoken to their families and young children and it''s a tremendous pull on the heart-strings," The Telegraph quoted Gooch, as saying.