We are ready for Pakistan – Alastair Cook
Apr 6, 2019 at 2:18 PM
2016 couldn’t have been any better for England’s ever charming skipper Alastair Cook so far. The southpaw himself might not be in the best of form, but as a leader, he has been spot on and there has been very little to complain about Cook’s to the point captaincy. After an inspiring series win over South Africa away from home, Cook found no hardships in beating Sri Lanka 2-0 at home.
Post England’s series win over Sri Lanka at Lord’s, Cook was a content skipper. The 31 year old batsman has now set his sights on the visiting Pakistani side as England prepare to host the Pakistanis in a home test series after a long span of 6 years. In between, England toured UAE twice to take on Pakistan, and on both occasions, lost the test series.
Setting his eyes on Pakistan for the test series, Cook apparently stated that the hosts were ready to take on the Asian side. “They’ve got a very good pace attack, backed up with spinners. But we’re ready for them. We scored a lot of runs against Australia’s attack here last year. I think it’s going to be a brilliant series,” said Cook about the upcoming series against Pakistan.
While speaking about the series win over Sri Lanka, Cook praised Chris Woakes, Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales for their impressive performances. “Chris Woakes has really impressed me,” Cook said. “He is a different cricketer to Ben Stokes, not as dynamic, but he is still very effective. I said before Durham we hadn’t seen the best of Chris Woakes in an England shirt, but I thought he made really big strides in this series and proved to himself he can do it.”
“It’s a brilliant achievement,” Cook said about Bairstow being named the Man of the Series. “And it’s great to have an attacking batsman coming in and taking it to the opposition. He’s been very similar to Matt Prior when he was at his best. We could often be 100 for five and he’d change the momentum. It’s great to see someone who works so hard at his game getting his rewards.”
The England skipper concluded by praising opener Alex Hales for his consistency. “Three scores of 80 and above from Alex Hales was really pleased,” Cook said. “He’s certainly tightened up his game from South Africa and probably just learned about Test cricket. “It’s great when you see someone who maybe doesn’t quite nail it in the first four games, but then goes away and shoes the hunger to work on his game away from the spotlight.”