England's next challenge? ODI top spot
As England cherish their ascendancy to the top of Test cricket with three successive wins over India, former captain Michael Vaughan said the next challenge will be to rule the one-day rankings.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: August 17, 2011 04:04 PM IST
As England cherish their ascendancy to the top of Test cricket with three successive wins over India, former captain Michael Vaughan said the next challenge will be to rule the one-day rankings.
"We also want to see them become the world number one team in one-day cricket too. That is the next challenge," Vaughan said.
"We haven't won a World Cup yet and I think that will be (coach) Andy Flower's next goal," the cricketer was quoted as saying by the 'London Evening Standard'.
The former cricketer said the country should celebrate England's ascent to the top of ICC Test rankings but reiterated that the team should now establish a stranglehold at the position.
The 36-year-old, who played his last Test in 2008, said "Number one in the world is something we should all celebrate but the main thing now is to stay there."
"I really think this team now has got a great opportunity to go on and dominate Test cricket for a number of years," he added.
Vaughan also lavished praise on Alastair Cook, who, he believes is destined for a place among the game's greats.
"I don't want to put him under too much pressure but he is going to get over 10,000 Test runs with over 35 Test match hundreds (a feat that no other English man has achieved so far)," the former batsman said.
"He will probably be captain when Andrew Strauss relinquishes it in a few years' time and he has got a tremendous career ahead.
"He is the type of player you want, very determined, he grinds out every run. At times it is not pretty but, look at the end result, he is a run-scorer," Vaughan added.
Cook, who struggled during the early half of the ongoing series, rediscovered his lost touch with a career-best 294 during the Edgbaston Test.
The ton was Cooks's 19th Test hundred and seventh since his place was deemed to be under threat 12 months ago.
The 26-year-old has played 71 Tests so far and is now only three hundreds behind England's record Test centurions Geoff Boycott, Colin Cowdrey and Wally Hammond.