Former England skipper Alastair Cook expressed his disappointment at England’s below-par performance with the bat in the two-match Test series against New Zealand. He said that the team couldn't handle the pressure of Test cricket after England went down by 8 wickets in the second Test against New Zealand to surrender the series 0-1.
The visitors took just 52 minutes on the 4th day of the second Test to wrap things up. England who began Day 4 on 122/9 lost Ollie Stone in the very first delivery of the day giving New Zealand a target of just 38 runs. The visitors lost two wickets while racking the target up.
"From what I've seen of this batting line-up when the pressure comes on, the intensity of Test cricket, the scrutiny of it, they can't handle it," said Cook while commentating for BBC Radio's Test Match Special on Sunday.
Among the current crop of players, none of the batsmen including Joe Root average more than 50. Root has an impressive average of 48.68 but the second-best in the team is Rory Burns with a relatively moderate average of 33.23.
It will definitely be worrying signs for England ahead of the home series against India and the Ashes slated to be played in Australia later this year. Cook questioned the techniques of the top order English batters and said they are not handling the mental pressure.
"They have quirky techniques, but they've scored a lot of runs in county cricket and at times scored Test runs.
"When the pressure comes they are not handling the mental pressure that you need to do. It is a massive area of concern for me."