England skipper determined to win final Test which begins at the Oval today
England captain Alastair Cook remains determined to oversee a 4-0 Ashes series victory over Australia by winning the final Test at the Oval today.
England skipper Alastair Cook receives throwdowns from batting coach Graham Gooch on the eve of the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Oval. Pic/Getty Images
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With the series already wrapped up, there could be room for players to ease down when the fifth Test starts in south London with the idea of rotating the team alsou00a0suggested.
But Cook wants to seal a memorable first Ashes series as captain by taking another win and with the best players available named in the side.
“I think it would be very special to win the Ashes 4-0,” he said.
“That is what our motivation is as a side and we are hopefully going to pick the right side — the side that we think can win this Test match.
Training has been good the last couple of days and we haven’t done anything different, (treating the match) as if it were 1-1 in the series and that was our aim for this week.
“We don’t need any more motivation — that is enough for us. To win a Test match for England is big enough motivation and we have a lot of record-breakers in this team. Every time you beat Australia it is a good feeling.”
With back-to-back Ashes series, England could head Down Under in the winter having scored a psychological blow over Australia by taking a comprehensive 4-0 win this time around.
“It will be one of those strange things,” Cook added. “When we get to Australia we will be saying ‘what is gone is gone’ and it won’t make any difference during that first hour in Brisbane.
“But sitting here now, as a side, those little things can make a difference and if we can keep putting Australia under pressure in certain areas of their play then we know that will count well when we go down to Australia. If we can continue winning games of cricket then that is all we can do.”
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