Alastair Cook believes England surpassed expectations

England captain Alastair Cook is pleasantly surprised with England’s 4-0 whitewash over world number one side Australia.

With a seven-wicket victory at Old Trafford on Tuesday summing up the whitewash against the team Down Under, England have moved to the third place in the world rankings. The win was also England’s 10th straight ODI win.

Cook delightedly said, “Clearly at the beginning of the series, you’d scrap and take a series win. So to win 4-0, it’s fantastic and a huge credit to the lads.”

The longer format of the game is hugely dominated by the English side and have helped establish themselves as the best Test side. Cook has proven to be a great captain and the side had improved considerably under his guidance.

England have had a great year in 2012 and remain unbeaten with 4-0 series win against Pakistan in February, 2-0 win over West Indies in June and the recent Australian whitewash. Notably, all the emphatic wins for England were under the captaincy of Cook.

Cook’s side had a chance to claim the top title in the world rankings had they beaten the Australians in the rained-off third ODI at Edgbaston. Cook, the 27-year old ODI England captain, says, “It feels good, great to win the series. It’s been a brilliant effort from the lads. We’ve always been at Australia, and always tried to put them under some pressure.”

The might Englishmen face South Africa next in a three-match Test series starting 19th July which will be followed by five ODIs and two Twenty20 matches.

Related:

England’s Alex Hales fires, defeat West Indies in T20
England clinches nine-wicket victory over West Indies at Trent Bridge
Graeme Swann ‘rested’ for remaining ODIs against Aussies

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