England captain Alastair Cook urged his side to show the same “relentless” approach that characterised their 266-run win over India in the third Test at Southampton when the series continues at Old Trafford next week.
Thursday’s victory at the Ageas Bowl saw England level the five-match contest at 1-1 and, even more importantly, ended a run of 10 successive Tests without a win.
Cook, who oversaw England’s 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia, was certainly in no mood to get carried away. “It’s a very small step,” he said. “It’s only one win.”
England’s dominant display was all the more impressive considering the way in which they had capitulated to a 95-run defeat in the second Test at Lord’s.
“We had as good a game as you can have – that’s what the turnaround is,” Cook said. “We got greedy in the first innings. When you do that, you start getting ahead of the game and can dictate it – and that’s what we did.”
Now the challenge is to do it all again in Manchester. “We were relentless, we never let India off the hook at any stage,” said Cook. “It takes a lot of skill and determination to do that.” Now everyone knows what it’s like, the challenge is ‘can we repeat that at Old Trafford, and try to win the series?”’
Following all-rounder Moeen Ali’s 6-67 on Thursday which hastened India’s defeat, England coach Peter Moores is confident another component in their bowling attack is capable of contributing significantly in Manchester and beyond.
“Moeen is a very level-headed bloke and that is one of his real strengths,” said Moores. “He stays calm under pressure. He’s in the side as a batter and a very rapidly emerging bowler, said Moores.
“I think he had a bit of a turning point before the Lord’s Test – testament to some of the feedback he got. I think Ian Bell was quite important in that.”
Moeen took on board advice from his team-mates about how to make the most of his developing skills, against international batsmen.
“Test match cricket is about how rapidly people grow in it,” added Moores. “He’s grown very quickly as a bowler and I hope that carries on. Mo is a very sensible lad. He knows he’s got to keep doing a lot of work.”
