That’s the moment you play for: Alastair Cook

England’s captain, Alastair Cook, seems to be deeply ecstatic by his side’s emphatic win over the Kangaroos at Trent Bridge, that sealed the Ashes victory for England. This victory made Cook the third England captain to seize two Ashes series on home soil.

At the presentation ceremony, Cook said – “Michael’s got emotional and it’s got me emotional. From where we’ve been over the last 18 months to what we’ve achieved, I’m incredibly proud of the lads and all the support staff. We’ve done something I didn’t think was quite possible at the beginning of the summer.”

The hard work of the England side has been visible in the ongoing series clearly. It has been a blissful performance by the players both at Edgbaston – where victory came in two and a half days – and at Trent Bridge where the show barely reached the third day. Cook even said that his team has surpassed all the hopeful expectations with their amazing wins.

It’s just a matter of time as it was the same person who stood at the SCG after his team lost the Ashes 0-5 to Australia in a dreadful whitewash. Reflecting back on the same, Cook said – “When you lose 5-0, there’s a turnover of players and a new side develops, it takes a bit of time but you see what talent there is in the country and we saw the end potential here. Ben Stokes was fantastic here. Joe Root has gone from strength to strength – they have driven this side forward – and the senior players have led so well. As a captain, I’m very lucky to have a group of senior players, Broady to step up, Jimmy, Bell, the support I’ve had from them means a lot.”

Cook also lauded the hard work of the former coach Peter Moores, saying that – “Peter Moores isn’t here but the amount of work he did, you’ve seen the players grow as international players. Trevor has come in and taken that forward, but without Peter and that development – it was a tough time a few months ago – he’s put a lot of hard work in for that success.”

Ending his speech, Cook seemed to relive the moment when Mark Wood sealed the Ashes win for his team. He said, “Today’s not about me, or me getting emotional, it’s about players who have taken that journey through some incredibly tough times to get the amazing times. That’s the moment you play for, when Woody gets the last wicket.”