Alastair Cook hails world-class Swann

ALASTAIR COOK played down talk of a whitewash after becoming the first England captain since W.G. Grace in 1890 to win the first two games of an Ashes series in this country.

Graeme Swann

ALASTAIR COOK played down talk of a whitewash after becoming the first England captain since W.G. Grace in 1890 to win the first two games of an Ashes series in this country.

The victory by 347 runs at Lord's means that England will retain the urn at the earliest opportunity unless Australia can reverse a run of six successive losses this year when the series resumes at Emirates Old Trafford on Thursday week.

"It is special, something to cherish," Cook, the England captain, said. "Winning is a habit and we have won all four Tests now this summer. But we will not be taking anything for granted. We will enjoy this success, recover well and focus on that first hour at Old Trafford.

"When it is dry we have a world-class spinner in Graeme Swann and bowlers who know how to reverse-swing the ball. We are confident in any English conditions. The bowlers have dug us out with seriously skilful bowling. It is good to know when we apply pressure to Australia's upper order we can get rewards."

Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, looked dejected and distraught as he reflected on a defeat that was inevitable once his side were dismissed for 128 in their first innings.

Although he tried to convey optimism, his tone did not match the bullishness of his prediction.

"I am confident we can still win the series," Clarke said. "Some of the crowd laughed when I said that at the presentation ceremony, and rightly so perhaps, but it would be silly to go to Manchester expecting to lose.

"There are plenty of Australians in England and people back home cheering us on. We are letting them down. We are letting our bowlers down, making them bowl every day. Every batsman in the top seven let himself down in our first innings. England have outplayed us in both Tests so far."

The dismissal of Ashton Agar led to more questions about umpiring and Decision Review System. Agar was given out caught behind on the say-so of Tony Hill, the third umpire, even though Hot Spot failed to show an edge.

Any doubt should have gone with Agar because of the on-field decision in his favour.

Shane Warne, the former Australia player, tweeted: "The umpiring in this series has been a disgrace towards both teams. Nothing wrong with the technology but the people using it (umpires)."

Clarke made no mention of technology while Cook repeated England's long-held support. "We have had a funny couple of games where a few things have been slightly controversial, but the bottom line is that it gets more decisions right and it's here to stay," he said.

Cook admitted concern over the fitness of Kevin Pietersen, who was unable to field yesterday (Sunday) because of a calf strain. The captain quickly corrected himself when he described the injury as a more serious tear.

"He is a world-class player and would leave a big hole if he is not there (at Old Trafford)," Cook said. "But it would be an opportunity for somebody to step up. There are some very good players who are not playing in the team at the moment."

As well as the Australians, MCC were losers when the game finished a day ahead of schedule. Having declined to take out insurance on ticket sales because of the increase in premiums of a pay-out, they must now refund more than pounds 500,000 to spectators who had seats for the scheduled fifth day.

The Times