Published: Aug 16, 2015, 01:25 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 16, 2015, 07:30 PM (IST)
Alastair Cook admitted he wasn’t clear about his future as the English captain prior to the 2015 Ashes and he had thoughts about giving up the role at the end of Summer, especially after the white-wash in the 2013-14 Ashes and the poor series against West Indies, that was followed by the axing of then coach Peter Moores. However, the 3-1 victory in the ongoing series has pushed his mindsets to a stronger level as the 30-year-old confesses to lead England a “bit longer.” Having won the last two Tests inside three days, the hosts will like to finish the series with a victory in the fifth and final Test at Oval that will commence on August 20. READ: Pat Cummins might play 5th Ashes Test at the Oval after good tour match
According to a report from Guardian, Cook said, “I pretty much decided last Sunday. I woke up and immediately started thinking about trying to win the Ashes 4-1 and then about what we will have to do to win against Pakistan. It came quickly to me to start planning ahead and that told me that I probably wanted to carry on a bit longer.
“At the start of this summer I didn’t know what was going to happen and I wasn’t sure if I would continue beyond the Ashes. But while you’ve still got the opportunity to be England captain and you’ve still got more to give, which I now feel I have, then you need to carry on and give it your all.” READ: Steven Smith asks Australian public to back team after Ashes 2015
“There have been some really dark moments in the last year or so. There was the KP affair and that dragged English cricket through some bad periods. I bore the brunt of that negativity and it took it out of me and my family. To come through that means a lot. This is not a ‘poor me’ thing but I felt in the really low moments that I was getting blamed for absolutely everything that had gone wrong. Even when we had a bad day and I hadn’t done anything it was still my fault. There were times when I found it very hard to deal with and was very close to giving it all up. To stay strong through it all, I’m proud of that,” Cook said.
Cook’s 96 at Lord’s was not sufficient to seal the game for the home side, as that was the only game won by the Australians on this tour. That was the only decent score by the English skipper, who has 223 at an average of 31.85 from four Tests so far in the series.
