Spirits Cricket

The captain of the England Cricket team, Alastair Cook, has made it clear that Nick Compton will open with him in the first test match against New Zealand which is going to start from 6^th of March at University Oval, Dunedin.

Compton’s performance as an opener in the test series against India was average. There were speculations that Joe Root might replace him as an opener in the first test match against the Kiwis, but, the England skipper told the reporters today that the England team management wants to give more opportunities to Compton.

When asked who will open with him in the first test match, Cook said, “It’s Nick Compton who will be my opening partner in the first test match. Nick batted quite well under the unfamiliar conditions in India. Although, he didn’t play big knocks but, his contributions at the top of the order were really useful. He really deserves another opportunity.”

When asked if his team is confident after winning the ODI series, Cook said, “The win in the ODI series has certainly boosted our confidence, but, test matches are completely different. We need to show a bit more application as a batting unit in the test series. They have got some fine swing bowlers and in these conditions, they can really do a lot of damage.”

When asked about the failure of Kevin Pietersen in both the innings of the warm up match against New Zealand XI, Cook said, “That’s not much of a worry for us. KP had been out of cricket for a month or so. That’s why; he didn’t look that fluent in the warm up match. He just has to spend a bit of time in the middle and he will start hitting the ball fluently.”

The captain of the England Cricket team, Alastair Cook, has said that the wayward bowling of the England bowlers in the death overs proved to be costly for the team in the second ODI match against India.

The Indian batsmen scored 110 runs in the last 10 overs at Kochi. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja were the ones who took the England bowlers apart in the slog overs. They smashed the ball to every corner of the ground and took India to a total of 285. That was a very good total on that pitch which was a bit low and slow.

The England team struggled against the Indian bowlers in reply and got all out on just 158 runs.

Talking to the reporters in the press conference after the match, Cook said, “We were in a very good position till the 40^th over, but, in the last 10 overs, we gave away too many runs which proved to be costly at the end.”

“I think we didn’t hit the right kind of length during the death overs. We kept bowling over pitched deliveries and kept getting smashed all over the park.”

When asked about the batting of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Cook said, “He is a great player. He is one of the best finishers going around. It’s very hard to bowl to him during the death overs. He can hit good deliveries out of the park. The helicopter shot that he plays is just outstanding. I don’t think anybody else can play that shot effectively.”

When asked about the performance of the English batsmen, Cook said, “The ball was moving around in the first few overs and we got some outstanding deliveries from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The spinners also got a bit more turn in the second half and it was really hard work for the batsmen. But, we should have batted better than this.”

The test and ODI captain of England cricket team, Alastair Cook, has said that the England team is capable enough to beat India in the upcoming test series even in the absence of Kevin Pietersen. The record of the England team in India is not that good. In the last 17 years, England has won only one test match on the Indian soil. But, the England captain believes that the team will do much better in India this time around.

When asked about the India tour, Cook said, “Beating the Indian team on their home soil is not going to be easy for sure. But, it’s not impossible. I don’t want my team to go into that series with a negative mind set. We should go out there thinking that we can win.”

“We had done pretty well on the tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year. The conditions in Sri Lanka were pretty much like India. So, if we can win a test match in Sri Lanka, we can do the same in India as well.”

Cook has been appointed as the captain of the test team after the retirement of Andrew Strauss. Strauss had announced his retirement from test cricket after the series defeat against South Africa. When asked whether the team is going to miss Strauss in India, Cook said, “Yes, definitely, we are going to miss him on India tour. He was a great opening batsman and a very good player of slow bowling. He could have been quite handy in India. But, the youngster who has been selected on his place is quite talented and I am confident that he will play well in his debut series.”

When asked about the exclusion of Kevin Pietersen from the test squad, Cook said, “Any captain in the world would want Kevin Pietersen in his side, but, according to the current situation, he can’t be included in the team due to some issues. Hopefully, he would be back soon.”

Alastair Cook’s ability to lead the England Cricket Team in One day Internationals has been vindicated after the side managed to win the first match against Pakistan with a margin of 130 runs at the United Arab Emirates, after they were brushed aside in the test series, being whitewashed 3-0 by a side that was not given much of a chance ahead of the series against the number one Test playing nation in the world.

Cook’s ability to captain a side of the stature of England has come under immense scrutiny from time to time especially by many former cricketers. Ian Botham showed his dissatisfaction at the decision of the England and Wales Cricket Board or the ECB to appoint Cook as the captain of the One day International side last year.

He further added that Cook should be replaced by Stuart Broad, the captain of the England Cricket Team in Twenty 20 Internationals who was doing a much better job than Cook. Moreover, the 5-0 series loss to India in the subcontinent last October also did not help Cook’s cause much. But he is sure to see this win against Pakistan as vindication to all those comments on his ability to captain the side, especially since the win came after a 3-0 demolition in the Test series.

Alastair Cook also managed to let his bat do the talking with a score of 197 off 142 balls, his highest score in One day International cricket so far. Speaking in the post match press conference, Captain Cook added that it was important to get the win as a confidence booster for the side which had lost badly against the Pakistan side in the Test series and was looking forward to winning the ODI series for the England Cricket Team by leading them from the front.