“It has been a great side to play in”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

England captain Alastair Cook is brimming with confidence ahead of his side’s tour of the United Arab Emirates, where they will face Pakistan.

Cook has urged his side to keep their positive momentum going following their superb 3-2 Ashes win over Australia during the summer.

However, Cook is also wary of the fact that Pakistan whitewashed England 3-0 when they last met in the United Arab Emirates in 2012. But, he believes that England can turn their fortunes around and end up on top this time around.

“I think you are seeing this side maturing over the past 18 months,” he said in an interview on the ECB podcast. “There have been a lot of new faces in the England team and a lot of people who have taken their chance.

“Ben Stokes has been fantastic and Moeen Ali, in particular those two, alongside your slightly more established players like Joe Root who are really driving this younger English side forward.

“It has been a great side to play in and it clearly helps when you win the big moments. We’re going to be tested again to see whether we can develop as a side in these conditions.”

Cook entered the summer under immense pressure as he was in the midst of a lean spell with the bat. This led to many people calling on him to relinquish the captaincy, but Cook was glad to have fought through one of the lowest points in his career and proved his critics wrong by scoring 330 runs at an average of 36.66 during the Ashes.

“When you lose games of cricket it is never great,” he said. “Over a period of time with affairs outside of cricket it became very hard. You kind of know what you are signing on to when you become captain.

“You have some incredible moments like at The Oval, Trent Bridge and Edgbaston but there are also a few dark moments as well.

“I’m proud of the way I’ve hung in there and now it is the next stage for me as a player and as a captain to try and keep going and going and improve with this side as long as we can.”