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Warne: Cook's captaincy the worst I have ever seen

Alastair Cook and England lost the Test series to Sri Lanka on Tuesday © Getty Images

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Shane Warne has launched another scathing attack on Alastair Cook claiming he should either step down as England captain or take a break away from the game.

The former Australian spinner has been highly critical of Cook over the last 12 months and it finally prompted an exasperated response last week, with the batsman calling for "something to be done" about what he believes are personal attacks.

But Warne has refused to back down, instead adding to his criticism of Cook in his latest column in the Daily Telegraph in the wake of their England's Test series loss to Sri Lanka on home soil.

Shane Warne has become something of a celebrity and worked as a pundit since quitting cricket © Getty Images

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"There are three ways to go with Alastair 'Cooked' Cook," Warne said. "Everyone sticks their head in the sand and just allows things to keep going as is and hope he finds form with the bat and by a miracle discovers some tactical brains from somewhere.

"Two: he steps down from the captaincy to concentrate on his batting. Three: the most radical of all, he has a complete break away from the game. Lots of people, including me, think it is time for him to step down as captain.

"At Headingley I witnessed the worst day of captaincy I have ever seen at international level in almost 25 years in the game. It was horrific and I am not the only one singing that tune.

"He just does not get it. Everyone watching could see the game needed a change of pace; bowl the spinner or make the seamers try and actually get Angelo Mathews out. You just cannot bowl the same stuff over after over like he did - good captains try things and are proactive, not hopeful.

"The most disappointing thing for me is that he has not learned or improved after a horrible 5-0 drumming in Australia, in fact he has got worse," Warne, who also works as Sky Sports pundit, added.

"He is not thinking straight. He is not there. He is confused. He does not know what to do and because he is in a rut with his form it makes life a lot worse. You just cannot captain a team in transition in that frame of mind."

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