Amid the post-Ashes celebrations – which Alastair Cook insisted were not tarnished by defeat in the fifth Test – came a plea from the England captain for Ian Bell to continue in international cricket as they plot a course for the top of the world rankings.
Bell, who has joined Ian Botham as one of two England cricketers in the modern era to taste Ashes victory five times, admitted after their innings defeat by Australia that he would “take stock over the next few weeks” regarding the continuation of his 11-year Test career.
Cook, who lifted the urn for the second time as captain as the fireworks crackled and the champagne corks popped, believes the right-hander, 33, despite a topsy-turvy series with the bat, remains a key man before winter tours to the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.
“He still has a big part to play,” said Cook. “He’s an absolutely wonderful player; a class player. I haven’t actually heard exactly what Belly has said but he’s a class player and I hope he’s around for a few more years.
“I think it’s such an emotional time over the last 10 days in terms of emotional highs and what we’ve just experienced – and everyone is pretty tired – that what you say in an interview now might not be what you believe deep down.”
England’s 3-2 series win sees them rise to third in the world rankings, having missed out on the chance to leapfrog Australia in second with a 4-1 scoreline. Cook admitted their lull in south London, sealed by a seven-wicket collapse on Friday evening, was due to a comedown from the buzz of regaining at the Ashes in Nottingham two weeks ago.
“Maybe we underestimated the emotional high from Trent Bridge and how hard it would be to get back up to that level you really need to be at to beat Australia,” said Cook, who praised the tourists for bouncing back in the dead rubber.
“Of course we’d love to be sitting here at 4-1 rather than 3-2. We were off the pace in this game.
“You can kind of understand it. All the time [at the pre-series training camp] in Spain it was about winning three games. The mind has such a powerful effect on you as a player. It’s a little bit disappointing but I’m not going to worry about it, to be brutally honest.”
While Stuart Broad finished top wicket-taker on either side with 21, it was Joe Root, scorer of centuries in the wins at Cardiff and Trent Bridge, who was named man of the series for England. The 24-year-old now believes they can challenge the world’s No 1 side, South Africa, whom they face this winter.
“I think we are a side that are making small mistakes that are costing us dearly but at the same time we are improving very quickly and we’re very hard to beat when we’re at our best,” Root said. “If we continue that trend we’ve got a chance of being one of the best sides in the world, if not the best.”
Amid concerns over his workload and a lower back problem, the England head coach, Trevor Bayliss, confirmed Root will now be rested for the limited-overs series that begins with a Twenty20 international on 28 August. Reflecting on his first series working with the squad, the Australian agreed with his vice-captain that improvements can be made.
“These guys have got a lot of ability and they played some fantastic cricket,” said Bayliss, who declined to join the players in the on-field celebrations. “They’ve got some things to work on – there are some negatives there.
“We’ve got some very good players, there will be some tough times, but I think there will be more good times than bad.”
Broad added: “It’s been a funny series; as soon as a team has taken the initiative, the other team hasn’t been able to grab it back and I think that’s probably because the teams are quite similar.”
