England in search of perfect ten

England can achieve a perfect ten by beating Australia again at Old Trafford today. Should they come out on top and complete a 4-0 NatWest Series victory, England’s run of one-day international victories will stand at ten in succession.

Yet, whatever the statistics, Alastair Cook’s team will simply be focusing on one more big match at a time. Batting coach Graham Gooch made that clear in Manchester yesterday, spelling out the importance of beating Australia above all, no matter whether a series is already won or not. “I don’t think they’re looking at ten victories in a row at all,” he said. “I just think they’re looking at tomorrow, 2pm start, another big match against Australia.”

Gooch warms readily to a rousing theme he memorably struck up before the start of the historic 2010/11 Ashes victory in Australia, and one which has extra resonance from the mouth of a former England captain who had his ups and downs in 42 Tests against the old enemy. “In an international match, everyone wants to perform against Australia and I’m sure the Australians want to perform against England. It’s a special contest; it’s got history, whether it’s an ODI or not that doesn’t really matter. You want to get one over on them.”

Gooch expects Australia to dig in with determination for one last stand this summer. “I don’t think they’re going to let up in this last game. They’re going to come hard again tomorrow.”

Gooch senses that the current England team, thanks to the influence of team director Andy Flower, have an extra mettle sometimes missing among their predecessors. “All through my time as an England player, selector, coach and now again, the side always had the talent to win matches – but lacked consistency. That was the one thing that teams of the past could not grasp. The regime that Andy Flower has put in place, and the work ethic he’s instilled in the players has brought about that consistency of performance.”