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Summary Cook insists England's professionalism will ensure they fight hard to deny Pakistan victory.
Alastair Cook has warned his England colleagues that they face a thorough examination of their character if they are to avoid the humiliation of a 3-0 series whitewash against Pakistan.The teams will resume on day three of the third Test with Pakistan having already built a lead of 180 with eight second-innings wickets in hand.Cook, perhaps worn down by experience, did not sound full of confidence about the struggle to come, but insisted that Englands pride and professionalism would ensure they fought hard to deny Pakistan victory and retain Englands position as the top ranked Test side. If England lose this series 3-0 and South Africa subsequently beat New Zealand by the same margin, then South Africa will leapfrog England for the No. 1 position.We all know were a very long way behind in this game, Cook said. But if we sit here when we turn up and say well, weve lost this game already then we might as well give Pakistan victory right now. If were thinking that in our dressing room, we might as well just not bother turning up.It will take some serious guts to drag ourselves out of this. But there are some bloody good players in that dressing room, and I hope we can stand up. Anything is possible, but its going to take a lot of mental toughness to deliver it.Cook accepted that Englands batsmen had endured a grim tour to date - none of the side are averaging as much as 30, while the middle-order of Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen are all averaging under 11 - but admitted that their repeated failures were starting to frustrate the entire squad.We have had our struggles on this tour and it is going to take some serious character from the top six to turn it around, Cook said. I know weve got the players in there. But theres only so many times you can keep saying that - were going to have to get out there and do it.It has been very frustrating, and we havent played to the standards we know we can. But we never once thought, just because of what happened over the last two years, wed turn up and wipe the floor with everyone.Twenty-two wickets fell in the first four sessions of the match but, since then, Younis and Azhar have batted for 72 overs without giving a chance. While Cook accepted that the Pakistan batsmen had played very well, he also felt that the wicket had eased.The pitch characteristics have changed, Cook said. There were less wicket-taking balls around than there were yesterday. It was quite easy to see that.But they didnt give us a chance in those last two sessions, and played very well. When they came in, they were still 20 runs behind us - and we had a really good opportunity to take a couple more wickets. If we had got them 50 for four, we would have been right in the game. But now they have given us a real mountain to climb. We tried a lot of things. But Younis took the attack to us. He was never reckless, but he never let the bowlers settle into any type of rhythm.Younis agreed that conditions had eased for batsmen, but also said that his anger at his first-innings dismissal had inspired him in the second innings. He also said he expected a tough fight from England over the closing sessions of the series.The pitch is much better for batting, he said. The first day was difficult with the ball seaming around. It seems like a totally different pitch now.I was very angry about how I was got myself out in the first innings. Seriously angry. So I decided to play more positively and I had a very good partner, who has a fantastic technique and plays according to the situation.England tried their best, but we have the edge on them. England have fantastic players and they are number one in the world, so it wont be easy for us. There could be a fightback, but they will need some luck.
