Michael Vaughan: Alastair Cook's not an England skipper yet

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Cook led the side for the first time in the Twenty20 thrashing by South Africa last weekend and is also tipped to be in charge for the tour of Bangladesh early next year, if Andrew Strauss is rested.

But Vaughan, who masterminded England's victorious Ashes campaign in 2005, does not believe Cook's place in the team is secure enough for him to be talked about as a future captain.

He said: "Don't push Cook into it yet. Fundamentally, he's got to have a fantastic tour. His Test place is not nailed down, he should be concentrating on scoring as many runs as he can on this tour. Let him focus on doing that and if he does - and Andrew Strauss is rested for the Bangladesh tour - then we'll look at it then.

"I love Alastair Cook in the dressing room but he's not an England captain now. Ultimately, you have to hold your place in the team. He's not in the best 15 50-over players in the country and he's certainly not in the best 11 20-over cricketers and suddenly he's the captain. We are trying to force and create a progression plan far too early, it should just happen.

"Andrew Strauss came by the England captaincy by default, I came in by the left-wing, Nasser Hussain by the right-wing. Those that have been set out to be England captain have never been very good."

Meanwhile, current skipper Strauss refused to respond to South African taunts ahead of today's first one-day international in Johannesburg.

Strauss and leg-spinner Adil Rashid have been criticised by Proteas skipper Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur during the early part of the tour but the opener said: "If by spending a lot of time looking at the opposition you're taking your eye off your own team, that can only be a good thing for us.

"We're not spending a lot of time thinking about them for that very reason."