London: Alastair Cook can equal Andrew Strauss’s number of wins as Test captain with victory over Pakistan at the Kia Oval and has confirmed that he wants to lead the side on the Ashes tour next year.
Cook, whose England commitments for the summer end with the fourth Investec Test against Pakistan, will meet Strauss, now England’s director of cricket, at the end of the series to discuss his future.
The pair meet at the end of every series and Cook will tell Strauss he wants to continue in the job.
Winning at the Oval would bring Cook his 23rd victory as captain in his 52nd match in charge and leave only Michael Vaughan ahead of him, with 26 wins in 51 Tests.
Winning could also take England to No. 1 in the Test rankings and would place them in the unique position of having won their most recent Test series against the other nine countries.
“At the moment I’m enjoying it,” Cook said. “The dressing room seems to be in a good place. At the end of every series, I’ll sit down with Trevor [Bayliss] and Straussy and whoever and discuss the future of the side and where we want to go. Am I still the right captain? Is it time to move on after this series or after India? We always talk about that, for my sanity as well.
“I’m never going to be a Mike Brearley tactically or one of those innovators, whatever anyone says. But we seem to be finding ways of taking 20 wickets, bowling to plans and catching some of the balls.” Cook started his captaincy with a historic series win in India but the following winter was at his lowest ebb after the Ashes whitewash that led to the sacking of Kevin Pietersen and Andy Flower standing down as coach. He was sacked as one-day captain before the last World Cup and suffered more upheaval following the dismissal of Peter Moores, a coach he campaigned to be reappointed and with whom he enjoyed a close working relationship. He met Bayliss for the first time only a few days before last summer’s successful Ashes campaign but the pair have quickly built up a rapport and Cook is enjoying the relaxed environment that the Australia coach has promoted. England have been visibly more at ease this summer and Cook has been solid with the bat, leading a young, developing side and paving the way for Joe Root to succeed him. “It would be nice to get there, certainly. It’s a long way away,” he said about the next Ashes tour. “This is the most comfortable I’ve felt captaining a side. I’ve only ever captained two sides: the England one-day team and the England Test team. 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. “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. But if Straussy sees it a different way, he’s the boss. “We’ve some tough challenges ahead. These five days and then seven straight Tests in the subcontinent — 11 straight weeks away — I think we’re going to need some strong leadership. I’m basically telling Straussy why he should keep me. It’s going to be a really tough tour for a lot of people. Last time, we won in India, so there’s no reason why we can’t again.”
