Its not that they axed him , Strauss himself admitted that it was highly unlikely whether he was good enough to play the next WC given that he turns 38 then . So , why not start a new era with a young & a talented skipper like Cook and get him enough experience in time for the next WC or for this case , the next Champions Trophy in England (2013) ??
I don't think Strauss is a good captain anyway, not a lot wrong with him as a batsman, but his captaincy is wooden, predictable and not terribly good. The lack of balance and an all-rounder in the side means he worries too much about getting through the 4th and 5th bowler, even when the team needs to take wickets which just gives the opposition the advantage/game.
For me this is no surprise, the move to make another Test player captain. England have clearly convinced themselves they didn't win down to luck, injuries, fatigue etc and ignored the facts that the fatigue is because they pick Test players , selections were poor (Wright, Yardy, plus a few players they didn't turn to until their choices were running out) and key players didn't perform.
I repeat my assertion they need to pick players for ODIs separately, takes a whole heap of fixtures out of the two squads' schedules AND MORE IMPORTANTLY the ODI squad can be playing county cricket and getting games/experience in the one day format while the Test squad is playing Tests. At the moment those who play in 2-3 formats for England mostly play those formats for England. It would also reduce the problems, no matter how small, of playing say four Tests and then having to switch to a shorter format (T20Is/ODIs depending on which they play) before heading off on tour to go back to the beginning (Tests). You can't tell me that it's easy to mentally adjust with no detrimental effect.
Or let's put it another way, England have tried the current set-up and it's failed in every World Cup since 1992. Sure there have been a few tweaks between bits n pieces 'all-rounders' and specialist bowlers, but the Test players have played in all and the one day game has developed far too much. What will be said next time England flop in the World Cup? Fatigue? (again) Injuries? (risk increased by too much cricket) Luck? (some say you make your own) While picking separate squads may increase the chances of Yardys and Wrights getting picked, it will increase their freshness, preparation and have the right focus.
Collingwood, Bell, Pietersen, Prior and Anderson make the case that Test players aren't necessarily the best for ODIs. We have enough of a player pool with fringe players who regular Test players keep out of the Test squad (and ODI squad) to manage two separate squads - Davies, Morgan, Bresnan, Tredwell, Dernbach, Shah, Patel, Bopara and Rashid to name nine off the top of my head who don't feature regularly in Tests but have been in or around the ODI squad. That's no worse than half the current Test team, only steady eddy Trott, Strauss, Broad and Swann would be that hard to replace but it's not as if them being in the squad at the World Cup, or in the past with equivalents INCLUDING FLINTOFF, has got us to semis or made us look remotely like contenders.
All making Cook captain and thus adding another Test player to the ODI set-up does is deny there is a bigger problem.