England's sacked ODI captain Cook takes to darts

London, Dec 23 (IANS) Alastair Cook tried to take his mind off a shock ICC World Cup snub as the deposed England one-day captain stepped up at the World Darts Championships.
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Two days after the heartache of being sacked as England's ODI captain and dropped from the squad for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Cook made his return to the public eye in a lighthearted darts contest with international teammate James Anderson at Alexandra Palace here Monday. 

Cook took part in a one-leg shootout with Anderson ahead of the fifth day's play in the World Championships and his bruised ego might have been soothed a little after he won with a double-11 checkout. 

Performing under the nickname 'Bed and Breakfast', Cook looked in good spirits on stage and was quickly into the swing of things in among the raucous fans. 

The pair then headed into the commentary box to do a stint alongside former world champion Eric Bristow, and Cook - who remains England's Test captain - admitted he was struggling to take in what the past 48 hours had served him. 

"It's been an interesting couple of days," he said on Sky Sports Darts. 

"I'm frustrated and disappointed not to be joining Jimmy on the plane. Sometimes, these things happen. I take it on the chin and get a couple of weeks away. 

"It's gutting and frustrating, but that's the way of the world and you have to get over it and I wish the guys well." 

Cook said he was looking forward to spending some time on his farm and then throwing himself into a 2015 campaign which involves Test series against the West Indies, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. 

"It's hard to talk about it at the moment (the World Cup) because of the way I feel, but there are Tests next year, two real marquee series (against Australia and South Africa) and, hopefully, I can get back scoring some runs," he added.