England captain Alastair Cook: Winning the Ashes at The Oval would be remarkable… it would be the best achievement of my career

Alastair Cook says winning the Ashes would be a remarkable achievement
The England captain has come under-fire over the past 18 months
England head to Spain on Saturday for training camp with Trevor Bayliss

Published:
08:24 GMT, 27 June 2015

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Updated:
08:25 GMT, 27 June 2015

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England captain Alastair Cook believes winning this summer’s Ashes would rank as the greatest achievement of his career.

The 30-year-old opener has endured a testing 18 months since he guided England to a 3-0 series victory over Australia in his first Ashes series as captain in 2013.

England were humiliated in the ensuing matches down under as they suffered an embarrassing whitewash before going on to lose their two-match series at home to Sri Lanka last summer.

Alastair Cook is excited for the Ashes and says winning it at The Oval would be a remarkable achievement

The England captain addresses the media during the access day at Lord’s ahead of the first Test

Cook was then stripped of his one-day international captaincy only months before this year’s World Cup while his exemplary form with the bat suffered, too. Indeed his century against the West Indies in May was his first in almost two years.

Cook, who became the leading run-scorer in Test matches for England during the second Test against New Zealand at Headingley last month, has also resisted numerous calls to resign his captaincy.

Yet buoyed by England’s displays against New Zealand in all three formats of the game this summer, he is optimistic England can snatch the famous urn back from their fiercest rivals.

‘It was an incredibly tough time,’ said Cook. ‘Losing that Test series against Sri Lanka and that fourth day at Headingley is as tough as it can get, so from where we have been if we did win the Ashes at The Oval that would be remarkable, and something I would be very proud of – it would be my best achievement.

‘We have a good chance of winning. It is going to be a highly competitive series and we will go in as underdogs because they are the best side in the world.

Cook won the Ashes in 2013 during his first series as captain but has endured a tough 18 months

‘But in our home conditions and with what has happened over last five or six weeks and the support we are getting, we have a really good chance.’

Cook and his England team-mates depart for Spain on Saturday for a pre-Ashes training camp as the team build a rapport with new coach Trevor Bayliss.

The 52-year-old Australian has taken over from Peter Moores who was sacked as head coach following England’s miserable World Cup.

The 30-year-old admits his side are underdogs against ‘the best side in the world’ but home support will help

‘We can’t pretend it’s ideal meeting the coach for the first time a week before the Ashes,’ said Cook, who dined with Bayliss on Friday night before England’s departure for their four-day camp.

‘It’s the first time I’ve had a coach I do not know at all. Obviously, with Peter Moores, Andrew Flower and Ashley Giles, I knew them, so I think it’s really exciting to have a guy totally from the outside and with a totally different set of eyes looking at us.

‘The relationship with the coach is massive and I’ll spend a lot of time with him, and I think the guys will spend a lot of time with him, too.’