Cook clamouring for success

Alastair Cook was one of the bright spots of England's testing tour of Sri Lanka this winter

Alastair Cook has called on England to rediscover their winning ways when they take on New Zealand next month.

The opener finished the recent series in Sri Lanka as the leading run-scorer in both forms of the game.

The 23-year-old scored 155 one-day runs in the one-dayers at an average of 31 and 278 runs in three Tests at 46 in a successful personal tour with the bat, in which he was the only England batsman to make a hundred.

He is naturally keen to continue his run of form against New Zealand, telling Essex’s website: “I’ve had a nice little break and am now looking forward to the tours ahead.

“New Zealand is of great importance to us both for the one-dayers and the Tests. Things have not gone our way in recent Test series but before that England had got used to winning.

“It’s time we got back to winning ways and to do that we need to raise our fielding, bowling and batting.

“I don’t think we are too far away, but it’s time to go abroad and win a series again.

“I’ve never toured New Zealand so the upcoming trip there will be a new experience, as will the tours coming up to West Indies and South Africa, if selected.”

England lost the Test series in Sri Lanka 1-0, with Cook providing a steady influence at the top of the order in all but the first match in Kandy, when he made nought and four.

Cook believes England need to improve on all three aspects of their cricket © Getty Images

Buy this photo

“After Kandy I would have taken what happened after that, so it was very pleasing," he added. "I felt I batted well all tour, apart from two overs of Chaminda Vaas in the first Test.”

Vaas was not the only bowler to cause England problems in the series, with Muttiah Muralitharan returning to the fray after missing the ODIs through injury. But Cook had done his homework on the spinner.

“Before the series I had been thinking of sweeping him and I practised the sweep shot a lot with that in mind,” he said. “But I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t going to be a risk-free shot.

“In my mind I know that if I could have played the sweep better then I would have created more scoring opportunities for myself but, as the risks outweighed the benefits at this time, it is still something I’ve got to work on.

“Batting in Test matches is hard enough as it is so I don’t want to give the game unnecessarily. I’m no Kevin Pietersen or Andy Flower yet.”

Cook’s performances against Sri Lanka raised him to number 13 in the International Cricket Council's Test batting rankings, but he is more focused on helping England to win, rather than personal glory.

“It’s a nice accolade, but not what drives me,” he said. “Getting hundreds drives me, as does winning and saving games.

“My goal is to be the best batsman I can be and to do that I need to score runs. Hopefully I’ll keep on improving and learning all the time.

“As a Test cricketer, your education keeps on going and you should never stop learning. It is imperative that you keep on improving, otherwise you get left behind.”

England arrive in New Zealand on January 28 for two Twenty20 internationals, five one-day internationals and three Tests.