Cook should be more demanding: Gooch

[JUGRAJ SINGH]

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Former England batting coach, Graham Gooch, believes the team should remain positive and play an aggressive brand of cricket against the visiting Sri Lankans, as well as in the future - if they have ambitions of regaining the number one rank in Test cricket.

England's captain Alastair Cook had previously come under fire for his defensive captaincy - particularly during the Ashes series in Australia. Gooch, who was sacked following the abysmal series down under felt that with a new management taking over and some fresh faces in the squad, Cook should be able to be more pro-active.

Gooch told the Daily Mail: "I was brought up under the captaincy of Keith Fletcher and Mike Brearley to play the pressing game. As a leader you have to try to make things happen. I was never schooled in letting the game unfold and seeing if you come out on top. You've got to take the initiative. You've got to press. We have to look at the way we're going to win games. You have to create the opportunity to win, and fight for it. You've got to push the game forward. That's the only way to play cricket."

On his own ward, Cook, Gooch said the biggest challenge was to take the team forward and get over the Ashes defeat. Gooch said it can be done only if the skipper leads by example and scores plenty of runs personally.

Gooch continued: "I've seen him meet and conquer many challenges over the years. But he's in an interesting position now where he's got to kick on. You can't have more of the same. He's got to take these exciting young players forward. He'll need his experienced players to help and be leaders in the dressing-room as well. You can't just have one captain. But he's also got to be the guy who sets the tone and demands more from the players.

"He's entitled to demand more. You're playing for your country. It's the ultimate. You're entitled to demand more to get the best out of them - that's part of the job as captain," he said.

Gooch was sacked as the batting coach following the humiliation in Australia, and Cook did play a role in it, but the former England captain did not sound upset over the happenings. He said: "It was always going to come to an end some time. I'll be in and around the game, but just not so much hands on. I'll be not so involved with the actual thing I've been involved with all my life. When you're getting bowled out in 50 overs, and the side are back in the field quickly, there's a price to pay. That's the reality. We know that. It's fair enough. Peter Moores and Alastair are quite entitled to make the changes. Alastair has had tough decisions to make. In a way that's good for him because that's what he had to do. He can't stand on sentiment.

"Would I like to have left in that way? No. It was absolutely not in my plan to be sacked by England. But I wish them and Alastair all the best. He's been a good friend, and we've had a very good relationship down the years. It was going to come to an end, obviously, at some stage - probably just a fraction prematurely from my point of view. But these things happen. It doesn't mean you don't care about them and want them to do well," he concluded.
 
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