Alastair Cook ahead of the second Investec Test with Sri Lanka
England captain Alastair Cook has challenged his side to pick up where they left off when the second Investec Test against Sri Lanka starts at Headingley tomorrow.
Cook’s men fell agonisingly short of victory in the opening game at Lord’s on Monday as they got the tourists nine down in their second innings.
The fact they got into that position was due to a superb performance after tea on the final day where a James Anderson-inspired bowling line-up took six wickets and took England to the brink.
Before that it was hard toil on a flat wicket, but Cook was proud of his side’s effort to get in a winning position.
And he knows it will need more of the same in Leeds if the hosts are to prevail and win the two-Test series.
“We played really well at Lord’s but that has gone,” he said.
“We have to start the game and earn the right to get ourselves into the positions we did do which was dominating Sri Lanka, but it took four and a half days of really hard work to do that.
“I expect nothing different here, yes we want to win the game and win the series but to do that we will have to play some good cricket.
“From inside the camp last week couldn’t have gone any better for us.
“We didn’t quite get over the line but if we play like that I will be incredibly proud. If we play that way every Test match I am captain in I will be incredibly proud.”