Alastair Cook landed in Bloemfontein with the England squad yesterday knowing that when he next touches foreign soil, it may be as captain.

That prospect became more likely when Andy Flower, the team director, said that “succession planning” will be a factor in determining whether Andrew Strauss sits out the trip to Bangladesh in the new year.

Until now it was supposed that Strauss and the selectors would base that decision on the freshness and fitness of the present captain, with one eye on workload since he succeeded Kevin Pietersen at the start of this year and the other on strenuous commitments in 2010-11, which include the defence of the Ashes followed by the World Cup.

Flower’s latest comments suggest that England will look beyond the physical wellbeing of Strauss, 32, for games in Dhaka and Chittagong in February and March. They see a chance to blood his probable successor as leader and evidence shows conclusively that Cook is the man. One critic has even accused England of “sleepwalking” to the Cook captaincy.

There is no other reason for Cook’s appointment as official vice-captain to Strauss during the summer or his recall for the one-day squad in South Africa, although he hardened his case with two hundreds at nearly a run a ball in three days for Essex in the NatWest Pro40 competition in September just as England were being battered by Australia in the NatWest Series.

Geoff Miller, the national selector, wants one captain across Test and 50-overs formats, if not Twenty20 as well. The reintroduction of Cook into the one-day fold resembles a royal marriage of yore in which an ambitious son is married into a ruling European dynasty to strengthen his position as successor to the throne.

“It is a great honour to be asked to be vice-captain and it is something I’ve been working at for a while,” Cook, 24, said. “The job does give you an insight into what the captain goes through. My role is to help Straussy with decisions and try to learn as much as I can about what goes into making a successful side tick.

“I think the best captains and leaders in any sport, from the Steve Waughs to the Martin Johnsons, are the men who lead from the front. Those guys made sure that their place in the side could not be questioned and as a result the players around them were ready to run through brick walls for them.”

His immediate challenge is to cement a limited-overs place. That probably means displacing Joe Denly alongside Strauss. Cook averages 30.52 from 23 internationals, but the damning statistic, at a time when England are looking to be more aggressive in the powerplays, is a strike rate of only 68.15 runs per hundred balls.

“I am never going to be Kevin Pietersen, hitting it out of the ground every ball, but if people saw the innings I played for Essex towards the end of the season, there were some big shots there at the right time and that gives me confidence to know I can do it. I can score runs quickly,” Cook said.

Although favourite to follow Strauss, Cook should remember the state of play in 2003, when Marcus Trescothick was the choice of both Nasser Hussain, the incumbent, and Duncan Fletcher, then the coach, to take charge. Within months, Michael Vaughan was installed and it is no slight on Trescothick to think “thank goodness for that”.

This time there are at least three options. Pietersen will be an obvious pick if he rekindles his ambition and the ECB can tolerate his forceful personality for a second term. James Anderson described himself as “gutted” after missing out on the vice-captaincy to Cook, muttering about prejudices against bowlers and northerners. Stuart Broad is clear captaincy material (and hails from south of Manchester), but may already have enough on his plate if he develops into an all-rounder.

Cook, in his autobiography published last year, is critical of his own spell in charge of England Under-19s at the World Cup in 2004. “I wasn’t very inventive,” he wrote. “I stuck to the basics and was very structured in what I did. I probably played it a bit safe and did not exert enough authority.” The image remains of a steady but unspectacular cricketer and personality.

But most players blossom once handed the role — Hussain and Vaughan exceeded all expectations. On that basis it would do England no harm for Cook to lead in Bangladesh, as long as the tour is about selectors quietly assessing their chosen one and not just part of a grooming process that is set in stone towards eventual coronation.

The contenders

Alastair Cook As the clear front-runner, it is his job to lose
James Anderson The leader of the bowlers has greater ambitions
Kevin Pietersen Would England welcome another rollercoaster ride?
Stuart Broad Chances may increase the longer Strauss stays in charge

Tour itinerary

Nov 13 First Twenty20 international (Johannesburg).
Nov 15 Second T20 (Centurion).

Nov 20 First one-day international (Johannesburg).
Nov 22 Second ODI (Centurion).
Nov 27 Third ODI (Cape Town).
Nov 29 Fourth ODI (Port Elizabeth).
Dec 4 Fifth ODI (Durban).

Dec 16-20 First Test match (Centurion).
Dec 26-30 Second Test (Durban).
Jan 3-7 Third Test (Cape Town).
Jan 14-18 Fourth Test (Johannesburg).