Cook: We have to get on the front foot

Australia

England captain Alastair Cook says his side will continue to look to attack and not try and protect their one-nil lead when the second Ashes Test gets underway at Lord's on Thursday.

Cook's side surprised many with their bold approach as they hammered the tourists by 169 runs in the Ashes opener in Cardiff last week.

This new attacking philosophy that England are adopting has been evident since they played New Zealand in a Test and ODI series last month and Cook says they will not change much at Lord's.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Cook said: "It is all about looking forward, not protecting what we have got – looking forward to this game and trying to reach those standards again.

"This summer, there has certainly been a real feel-good factor about English cricket. Whether we've won or lost, it has been a bit of a crest of a wave."

For all their attacking intent, the English skipper also knows that his side have developed a disturbing trend in their last two Test series (against New Zealand and West Indies) where they have won the first match but threw away the advantage.

Cook said: "We have to get on the front foot, as we did in the Cardiff Test match. One from one is pretty good – the challenge now is can we do it again here? The last [two] Test series, we haven't done that.

"We hope we can get the crowd behind us like they were in Cardiff. They will come back hard at us. It's how we respond and whether we can put the pressure back on them."

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