London, Nov 2 England opener Alastair Cook believes he can take a giant stride in the next three months towards becoming next cricket captain of the country.

If the Essex opener scores lot of runs against South Africa and displays good leadership, he will be the favourite to take over when Andrew Strauss retires.

Cook is already Strauss' deputy and has been recalled to the one-day team in preparation for taking temporary charge in Bangladesh next year while Strauss rests, The Sun reports.

As England landed in South Africa, Cook said: "It's a great honour to be vice-captain. I'm the person Straussy will turn to for ideas along with the other senior players."

"I'm trying to learn as much as possible about what makes a successful side tick. But I'm not looking much further than that - it is about doing my job," he added.

After a modest Ashes Cook's priority is to get the runs to cement his spot in the team. (ANI)