Alastair Cook concedes he will never be Mike Brearley when it comes to the tactical side of Test captaincy but says he has no plans to hand over the reins given how much he is enjoying the role at present.
Victory at The Kia Oval this week would be Cook’s 24th in the job – equal with his predecessor, Andrew Strauss, and two short of Michael Vaughan’s national record – and mean that England, with a series win over Pakistan, would hold all nine bilateral trophies against the remaining Test nations.
England have the opportunity to go to No1 in the world rankings too, provided India do not win the final two Tests of their ongoing series in the Caribbean, and with Cook having previously spoken about returning to the ranks before the end of his international career, it might have felt like a high point on which to step down.
As per the norm, Cook will discuss his future with Strauss, England’s director of cricket, at the end of the summer but with winter tours to Bangladesh and India coming up – and the 2017-18 Ashes tour a chance to avenge the whitewash defeat under him last time around and thus fill a hole on his CV – there is a will on his part to continue.
“The last year or so I’ve really felt comfortable in the captaincy role and everything it brings with it on and off the field,” said Cook. “I am really enjoying it and all those hard moments I’ve had – obviously they’re not gone – but in one sense, it would seem wrong to give it up quite yet.
“If Strauss sees it a different way, he’s the boss. But at the moment I’m enjoying it and we’ve some tough challenges ahead. These five days and then seven straight Tests in the subcontinent – 11 weeks away – I think we’re going to need some strong leadership. Last time we won in India, so there’s no reason why we can’t do it again. It would be nice to get [to the Ashes] but it’s a long way away.”
On the prospect of the nine Test trophies – a slightly contrived goal, given England last played Zimbabwe in 2003, but one which the team set themselves earlier this summer – Cook added: “It would be a really good achievement. Then you’ve got to try and hang on to them.”
If Cook, whose side are 2-1 up heading into Thursday’s final Test, remains self-deprecating about his own abilities as a tactician – he smiled when making the Brearley concession – he believes his current side could go further than the 2011 generation who, under Strauss, last climbed to the summit of the Test rankings.
He said: “I think it’s a more talented team. There are people who can win a game of cricket, or turn it, in a session. The team in 2011-12 was a very consistent, hard-nosed team that was very hard to beat. We’ve got a way to go to that level, but as you saw with some of the brilliance of Ben Stokes, getting a hundred in a session [in South Africa], that is what’s very exciting about this team.
“I genuinely think [No1 in the world] would be a little bit early for us as a side. It would be a great achievement and one you can be very proud of when you finish playing cricket. But as I keep saying, there are still questions that need to be answered.”
First up is the question of finishing off the job against Pakistan, with England in the ascendancy after the wins at Old Trafford and Edgbaston, having lost the first Test at Lord’s last month. The pitch, which showed a tinge of green on Wednesday, has led to England naming an unchanged team with the only difference being that James Vince, who is recovering from a dislocated finger, will step out of the slip cordon.
The return of live action will be welcome too, given something of a minor controversy that followed the win in Birmingham after a Pakistan television channel suggested England had been ball-tampering on the final day.
Cook added: “It’s so far-fetched that it’s just nonsense. I don’t think it will affect anyone, it certainly hasn’t affected our changing room.
“We’ve been talking about cricket for three Test matches, for the first time in a series I’ve played against Pakistan, and hopefully we’ll be talking about the cricket – good or bad – at the end of this next game.”
