MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: England captain Alastair Cook praised his side’s resilience as they just did enough to secure a draw with Australia in the third Test at Old Trafford that saw them retain the Ashes.
England, set 332 to win after Australia captain Michael Clarke declared on his side’s overnight 172 for seven, collapsed to 37 for three on Monday’s final day in Manchester, with Cook’s exit for a duck sparking the slump.
But rain meant only 94 minutes’ play was possible Monday and, with England having won the first two Tests at Trent Bridge and Lord’s, the draw meant Cook’s men had retained the Ashes at 2-0 up with two to play.
It’s been a bit of a strange day, but you’ve got to look at it over 14 days,” said Cook.
“If you’d said 14 days ago ‘it will rain on the last day at Old Trafford, but you’ll have retained the Ashes after three games’, I’d have snapped your hand off,” the opening batsman added.
“The England dressing-room is a pretty good place to be at the moment.”
But Cook insisted there would be no let-up even though the Ashes had been secured. “Now we want to go and win the series,” he said.
“We showed a lot of fighting character to get through this game,” said Cook.
“We might not have played our best cricket, but we’re proving we’re quite a hard side to beat.”
Cook said: “We didn’t play our best game. But Australia put us under pressure and they should be given a lot of credit for the way they played. AFP
