'He always has something driving him, a will to prove people wrong'
Sunday 23 August 2015 10:02, UK
Alastair Cook showed how it should be done with some old-fashioned Test match batting on day three of the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval, says Nasser Hussain.
Cook scored 85 from 234 balls in a resolute display with the bat after Australia enforced the follow-on, but fell to Steve Smith three overs before the close of play.
"It was a brilliant knock, better than just blocking," said Hussain. "It was good, old-fashioned Test match batting, the likes of which we seem to be lacking in this series.
"I was really enjoying it. I know I'm a bit boring for saying that I like a good leave and a good block but it was nice to see and England captain showing people that if you play in the old-fashioned way, runs will come."
"He doesn't strike me as someone who thinks 'the Ashes are won, I have nothing to prove now'. Every single innings is very important to him.
"He always has something that is driving him, a will to prove people wrong, a stubbornness - in this innings it was to try and get a home Ashes hundred, something he has never done.
"He got 96 at Lord's in the second Test, and sadly missed out again here."
England struggled to 203-6, still trailing Australia by 129 at stumps, with Jos Buttler's 33 not out the next best effort.
Hussain believes Cook's has benefited from time off before the Ashes, time that some of the younger players who struggled in the second innings have been denied.
"The thing with Cook is since that 96 at Lord's he has not actually looked out of nick, he has just been getting out to good balls, like in the first innings here. He has had this knock in him.
"Some of the younger players in the side - the ones that play all forms of the game - who played out in Sri Lanka, went to the World Cup, went to the Caribbean, played New Zealand in the Tests and one-dayers, for some of them you could see some tired shots, tired minds.
"For Cook, the breaks that he has had over the winter and the summer have held him in good stead. He has always had mental strength, but he also now has more mental energy in reserve."
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