Cook spared as England clinch win

A variety of decisions – from not enforcing the follow-on, to taking time out of the game by setting an unfeasibly large winning target of 468 – caused debate overnight due to the possibility of rain on the final day.

As it was there were two long delays that occupied almost three hours of playing time, but England still managed to bowl out the tourists for 220, collecting the final four wickets in 21.5 overs yesterday.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan was one notable critic of England’s strategy, calling it “a bit safe and a bit fearful” on Test Match Special, but he was far from alone. However, having watched his bowlers do the business, Cook felt relaxed in defence of his captaincy.

“I think the result vindicates the decisions. There is no doubt about that at all,” he said.

“It is very easy when you are sitting behind the rope to say ‘I would have pulled out with 350 on the board’.

“It is easy to say when you are not making the decision and you are not responsible for it.

“You are judged as a captain on results. In this game we have won by 250 runs.

“You woke up this morning and first thing you do is look out the window. I wouldn’t say it was a sleepless night but we were praying for an opportunity to get enough time to go out there and win the game.

“To win by nearly 250 runs is a good win and in just effectively over three days of cricket.

“We were 1-0 up in the series and we did not want to give them a sniff in the series because wins don’t come round very easily or very often.”

While Cook could not have made his position any more plain, he accepts that there will be scrutiny of his every act having taken over as skipper from Andrew Strauss last year.

“The beauty about sport and cricket, especially when there are big decisions to be made, is that there is always the other argument,” said the Essex batsman.

“It is very easy to argue the point. This will not be a one-off thing.

“I imagine throughout my reign – or whoever is captain – there will be a lot of people saying they would have done this or that and that is perfectly acceptable.”

Aside from the tactical debates forced by the weather, England enjoyed a prosperous time in Leeds.

Sheffield-born Joe Root scored a maiden Test century at his home ground, Cook became the first England batsman in history to score 25 of them and there were career-best match figures of 
10-132 for Graeme Swann.

The notable exception was Nick Compton, who fell for seven and one and looked entirely bereft of confidence.

He now faces a nervous wait to see if he will part of England’s Ashes campaign in July, but there were encouraging words from his captain.

Should Kevin Pietersen return to fitness on schedule, England have the option to use Root as an opener and retain his Yorkshire team-mate Jonny Bairstow instead of Compton, but Cook sees that as a gamble.

He said: “It is an important position in a very big series. You are in the firing line straight away and you want to set a good tone at the top of the order so, yes, it is a risk.

“There are going to be some tough meetings ahead. First and foremost it was great to see Kev batting again yesterday (in nets) and hopefully he keeps progressing well and comes back on the field.

“It has been brewing for a while that if he comes back then there is going to be a tough decision to make.”

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, by contrast, cut a frustrated figure after his side’s defeat, but believes the Black Caps have a bright future.

After holding the same opposition to three consecutive draws on home turf earlier in the year, McCullum’s side have been disappointed to lose successive games at Lord’s and Headingley.

And while McCullum does not hide from that fact, he has no intention of over-reacting.

Instead, he hopes to keep together a young side that has impressed in passages – particularly when seam duo Tim Southee and Trent Boult were at their best.

“This is definitely a step backwards for us,” he said.

“We saw in this Test match England flexing their muscles and us not being able to respond.

“But if you look back over the five Tests against them we have played some good cricket and taken strides forward, even though this was a step back.

“It’s early days for us. We have guys who have performed well in patches and poorly in other patches but if you fast forward 18 months this team has the makings of a good cricket team. We have the right mix and right balance in this group but we just need to smooth out some rough edges. We have to make sure we are more polished when we get back together.”

Boult spent most of England’s second innings off the field with a side strain but did briefly re-emerge to bat yesterday.

He will undergo tests today and the likelihood is that he will be ruled out of the limited-overs series against England as well as the subsequent Champions Trophy.

“He’s not looking great. He’ll have an MRI scan in London,” said McCullum. “He’s not moving freely. It’s disappointing because he’s been a revelation. Without him, things will be a little harder.”

Vaughan questions England’s
safety first approach: Page 22.