Test futures are on the line, asserts Alastair Cook

05/31/2018

Former English captain Alastair Cook is adamant that some of the players included in the squad to face India have to prove themselves in the upcoming tour if they want a permanent place in the team. England are set to play India in five Test matches between August 11 and September 11.

India will head to England in July for what looks like an enticing setup for 2019 ICC World Cup preview followed by five Test matches against the home team from August to September. England were defeated by Pakistan in their most recent Test match where they failed to make it past the 200-run barrier in the first innings and eventually lost the match by nine wickets at Lord’s.

This is why former England captain Alastair Cook reckoned that it was now or never for some of the lads in the English team as they prepare to cement a strong playing XI ahead of next year’s World Cup.

“It’s never great when you lose, even more so playing the way we did at Lord’s. It’s a frustrating time for us at the moment as a side; we’re not playing well. If you want to play cricket for England, you’ve got to deliver, otherwise we’ll be looking for other employment. That’s the nature of the beast and, fundamentally, we’re not producing out in the middle. But we have to stick together as a group.

“The last thing you can do is play the blame game, and the trick is now to not carry the negatives from the first Test with us to Headingley. Again, that’s another thing easier said than done. But clearly we are not going to lose every game of cricket ever, it is going to turn around at some stage, and it’s down to us to do that,” the left-handed batsman wrote in the column for the Indian Express.

Cook then went on to talk about re-called English batsman Keaton Jennings who joined up with the team in place of Mark Stoneman. Cook admitted that it would be a tough phase for Stoneman but advised that the latter should go back to the domestic circuit and work on his game.

“It’s tough on Mark Stoneman.It’s horrible. Playing for England is these guys’ dreams, so it’s not nice seeing people dropped. I spoke to him on Monday; he was obviously disappointed, as you’d expect, but he has to now go away, score runs and look at areas in which he can improve his game.It gives Keaton a great opportunity, and we just need people to grab these opportunities with both hands and to start pushing this side forward, like Jos Buttler and Dom Bess – on debut – did at Lord’s.

“He is a very level-headed guy and seems very suited to Test level, in terms of his mental approach. He got a hundred on debut, which shows he can play, but then against a good South African side last summer things just didn’t quite go his way,” Cook said.

Test futures are on the line, asserts Alastair Cook

Comments

0 Comments