Cook: England captaincy is tiring

England captain Alastair Cook has admitted it has been a tough job stepping into previous skipper Andrew Strauss' shoes.

Cook has made enviable progress since replacing former opening partner Strauss as captain of England's Test side in August 2012.

The 28-year-old played a starring role in the series victory in India, which included breaking the record for most Test centuries by an England batsman.

While his crowning achievement was perhaps the 3-0 Ashes win over Australia this summer, he has admitted his new role can burden him.

"You do find it more tiring," said Cook to the Daily Telegraph.

"You get tested every single day and you don't quite know where you'll be tested from. Eventually that does wear at you. It's how you manage that, and how you try to put in place things that can help you."

Despite his outstanding record since replacing Strauss, there are many in the game that have commented negatively on Cook's captaincy.

Australia head coach Darren Lehmann and their former spin bowler Shane Warne have derided the Essex batsman's ability to captain a team, which led England seamer James Anderson to staunchly defend Cook ahead of the return Ashes series.

"The guys who have got to know me would say that I tend to be pretty caring. I am certainly not a shouter, not a screamer," added Cook.

"As a captain, Straussy was an outstanding bloke, and it's been quite hard to follow in his footsteps because of how respected he was. But I'd say we're slightly different in the way we handle the dressing room, perhaps because I'm slightly younger."