Former England captain Alastair Cook has questioned the direction of the England Test team, saying their 2-2 home series draw against a Shubman Gill-led India was against “not a great Indian side” and warning that recent results have hidden deeper problems ahead of the Ashes.
Speaking on the opening day of the ongoing Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Cook said England’s early success under the current leadership had created a false sense of progress.
"They started off with a bang, Key, McCullum and Stokes. I think McCullum won his first eight out of 10 games or something the first year. Since then it's gone downhill," Cook said. "This year I think their percentage of win is like just above 30 percent so it's a bit of a downward trend. I like Rob Key, I like McCullum, I like how they think but I do think they've, this last little bit, they have taken our eye off the ball for the bigger series."
Cook pointed to the five-Test series against India earlier this year as an example of England misreading their own position. The series ended 2-2, marking Gill’s first assignment as India’s Test captain. Gill led from the front, finishing with 754 runs, including four centuries, but Cook felt the result flattered England.
Citing the series, Cook said, "... they were talking about India, they lost, they drew India and India just got thumped by South Africa. So that Indian side wasn't a great Indian side either. So actually it's a reality, it's just hit this England Test team and now they're going to decide how they want to play with what players afterwards."
England’s concerns have been sharpened by their performance in the Ashes, where they are trailing 0-3. They lost the first Test by eight wickets in Perth, followed by another eight-wicket defeat in Brisbane, and then went down by 82 runs in Adelaide.
As the Boxing Day Test progressed, England were chasing 175 to win the fourth Test on day two in Melbourne.
