Alastair Cook: Feel-good factor is back in England cricket following first Test victory against Australia 

  • England defeated Australia in the first Ashes Test with a 169-run win
  • Alastair Cook's side were besten 5-0 during the 2013-14 series Down Under
  • Four players made their Ashes debuts during the opening Test 
  • Adam Lyth, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Mark Wood all made first starts 
  • Gary Ballance and Ben Stokes had never before beaten Australia

Alastair Cook hailed the new high-octane brand of cricket that has transformed England in all forms of the game this season and said that his players want to ‘show off’ for the rest of the summer.

England produced an almost flawless performance to defeat Australia by 169 runs in four days in the first Investec Test to take a 1-0 Ashes lead to Lord’s next week and the captain vowed to carry on attacking.

‘I don’t know how it started,’ said Cook, who was much more pro-active in his decision-making in Cardiff. ‘But we want to show our talent to people. That’s why we’ve been selected by England and that’s why we’re perhaps the best players in the country. There must be a reason we got here and we want to show off.

Alastair Cook (centre) celebrates as England won the first Test of the Ashes against Australia by 169 runs

Alastair Cook (centre) celebrates as England won the first Test of the Ashes against Australia by 169 runs

Cook raises a stump to the crowd to acknowledge their support after he led England to a stunning victory

Cook raises a stump to the crowd to acknowledge their support after he led England to a stunning victory

Cook (left) walks off the pitch alongside man of the match Joe Root as England took a 1-0 lead over Australia

Cook (left) walks off the pitch alongside man of the match Joe Root as England took a 1-0 lead over Australia

‘It won’t work every time and I’m sure Australia will put us under pressure at times but if we can go out there and show off our talent, which is what we keep on talking about, and have the guys to express that then we’re a decent side.

‘There were times when I was thinking "is it the right way to play" but the guys know it is. There will always be times when we have to suck it up a bit. You can’t always do it. But there are times to get on the front foot and it is important.

‘So far this summer there’s been a real feel-good factor in English cricket and it started with that partnership between Joe and Ben at Lord’s against New Zealand when we were 30 for four. It’s carried on from there in all forms. It seems to have galvanized the support for this team.’

Stuart Broad took three key wickets to send his side on their way to victory with some mesmerising bowling

Stuart Broad took three key wickets to send his side on their way to victory with some mesmerising bowling

It was a spell of four wickets for nine runs in 35 balls either side of lunch that won the match for England after David Warner and Steve Smith had led a partial Australia recovery after the early loss of Chris Rogers in their pursuit of an Ashes record-breaking 412 to win.

‘We always say "one wicket before lunch and one after" and it came true. That was a really important wicket from Mo before lunch and then Broady did it after lunch but it would be wrong to sort out any of the guys. All our bowlers were brilliant on that wicket. We knew there was something there on and around off-stump as long as we hit that spot.’

Cook was irritated that the pre-Ashes build-up was dominated by the 5-0 thrashing his side had suffered in Australia that led to so many recriminations. 

Australia skipper Michael Clarke could only make four runs before edging Broad into the slips 

Australia skipper Michael Clarke could only make four runs before edging Broad into the slips 

‘It’s really important for this group of players to compete with Australia. I sat here before the Test and everybody was talking about what happened in the last series. I was getting a bit frustrated because there’s nothing we can do about that now. As a group of players to start the series well is important because it means if we play with that sort of attitude we can put Australia under pressure.’

England’s catching was outstanding –with the only blemish being Joe Root’s dropping of Rogers early on Saturday – and the England captain put it down to the work they did on their pre-Ashes bonding trip to Spain.

‘The amount of work we did in Spain as a unit, first thing in the morning and last thing at night, left the lads with sore hands but the lads got their rewards for it. On this wicket we had to be a little bit inventive with catchers in front of the wicket but you’re only as good as your bowlers and our bowlers were brilliant.’

And Cook paid tribute to the support of the Welsh crowd as the controversial decision to bring the first Ashes Test to Cardiff paid off spectacularly. ‘I cannot fault the support. Whenever we needed a lift something like Delilah would come on and it was a real privilege to play here. We’ve been looked after incredibly well by everyone here and Hugh Morris and his staff can be incredibly proud of how they have put this Test on. There’s been a great buzz about the place.’

Fast bowler Mark Wood (left) leads the celebrations after removing Australia's Adam Voges for only one run 

Fast bowler Mark Wood (left) leads the celebrations after removing Australia's Adam Voges for only one run 

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