Batting coach Graham Gooch is looking forward the longevity of the five-day fold serving England's stay at the helm of the Test rankings well for the foreseeable future.
England earlier this week officially toppled India from the top of the ICC Test championship by whitewashing Mahendra Dhoni's men after hefty wins at Lord's, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and The Oval.
Gooch (right) - wants even better from England
With Ashes victory, triumph in the World Twenty20 and resounding winners over World Cup champions and former holders of the Test mace India as their most recent accolades, this is arguably the most prolific English unit - and a young one, at that - since the turn of the century.
11 of the first-choice setup are still in their 20s, while only Graeme Swann, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott are 30 years or older.
"The ages of the group of players they currently have in the England dressing room is such that those players could be around for a while, so if they keep performing and looking for ways to improve, which I'm sure they will, then the current crop will be there for a number of years yet and that's exciting," said Gooch.
"I think England are playing consistent cricket and they can be rightly proud of their performances but achieving number one status is only a landmark and I don't think there will be lot of back-slapping going on in the England dressing room."
In an unlikely scenario but possible nonetheless, the English could lose their number-one ranking if South Africa beat Australia two-nil toward the end of this year and Sri Lanka three-nil at the start of 2012. Strauss and company, meanwhile, will be on mission to prove they are the complete package when they head to the sub-continent for tours of Sri Lanka and Pakistan next season.
England's last three Test tours of the subcontinent have brought success over minnows Bangladesh in 2010, but defeats at the hands of the Indians in 2008 and the Sri Lankans in 2007.
"Achieving number one status is something, maintaining that status is another," added former captain Gooch.
"They will be looking ahead, both as management and players, to the next Test series and will be thinking of ways of how England can improve on the sub-continent. That's where they are going to have to win if they are to maintain that status and how they can keep going forward as a team.
No comments:
Post a Comment