England vs Pakistan 2016: Cook feels England lack consistency to be No.1 Test team

Misbah-ul-haq and Alastair Cook share the trophy after the fourth Test

England captain Alastair Cook feels that the current England Test squad lacks the consistency to become the No.1 Test side in the world following the defeat to Pakistan in the last match of the series. The Three Lions had the opportunity to climb up the rankings table had they won the Oval Test and the results of other Test matches went in their favour. Instead, they were handed a 10-wicket defeat.

Cook feels that the top-order has failed to score the enough runs needed for the team to be in a commendable position and lauded the lower-order to have helped the side get out of danger on several occasions. "Consistently over the summer, we haven't scored enough runs at the top of the order. It is frustrating for us as a side. It's a big area we've got to keep working on - and obviously, for us to take that next step to consistency, top-order first-innings runs are vital” said the southpaw.

"The lower order have got us out of trouble some of the time and it's great that we've got strength in depth down there. But the majority of the time they should be putting the icing on the cake, not making the cake” he added.

Pakistan retained the No.3 rank in Tests and would be more than pleased for their brave performance in the Lions’ den, as not many could have predicted them to perform so well but they scripted 2 wins against all odds.

Cook admitted that the amount of dropped catches in the series by the Englishmen has barred them from bearing fruitful results and feels that the team needs to go back to their basics.

Cook said, "With the catching this summer, we'll need to go back to basics and work incredibly hard again," Cook said. "We can't afford to drop as many catches as we have in this series if we want to bowl sides out on good wickets like this one here.

Leading the 4-match affair before the start of the penultimate match the English line-up posted 318 runs in the first innings, but Pakistan replied strongly and piled on 542 runs by virtue of some brilliant batting display by Asad Shafiq and veteran Younis Khan. Leg spinner Yasir Shah returned back to form and took a 5-wicket haul to dismiss England for a mere 253 runs that set the visitors a target of 40 runs to level the series.

England still has the chance to prove themselves in the upcoming ODI series against the Asian giants, which begins on August 24. Meanwhile, Pakistan will play 2 50-over matches against Ireland before they face-off against England for a 5-match ODI series followed by a lone T20 International.