England cricket team series. However, this status only lasted a year – having lost 3–0 to Pakistan over the winter, England were beaten 2–0 by South Africa, who replaced them at the top of the rankings. It was their first home series loss since 2008, against the same opposition. This loss saw the resignation of Strauss as captain (and his retirement from cricket). His replacement, Alastair Cook, who was already in charge of the ODI side, led England to a 2–1 victory in India – their first in the country since 1984–85. In doing so, Cook became the first ever captain to score
Keith Greig It was not until a meeting at club secretary Ron Joseph's office had been arranged that an agreement between the now ex-captain and coach was reached. As Greig recalled:I told Barassi if he left me alone and let me do my own thing we would be OK. And that's what happened – Barass didn't speak to me for the entire 1980 season and consequently I won the best-and-fairest that year. I had been with him for seven years but by the end of '79 I had become tired of his ways. Greig and Barassi appeared to be reconciled: Barassi told