Alastair Cook has suggested that winning the Investec Ashes this summer would rate as "the biggest achievement" of his career.

Cook, the England captain, feels that after losing the last Ashes series 5-0 and an 18-month period in which they have lost three coaches and been eliminated early in the World Cup, victory would represent a remarkable transformation and would help "restore the pride of English cricket."

Inspired by the manner in which New Zealand played, Cook also hopes England can build on the apparent upsurge of popularity in the sport over the last month or two and play in a spirit and with a style that brings not just success but admiration. In particular, he hopes that the verve shown by the younger player during the Test victory at Lord's or success in the white-ball games can be replicated in the Ashes.

"It would be my best achievement," Cook said of Ashes victory. "I think it would be the biggest achievement of a lot of our careers. From where we have been, if we did win the Ashes at The Oval, it would be a remarkable achievement and one I would be very proud of.

"What is driving us as a side is what has happened over the last six weeks, restoring the pride of English cricket, making cricket feel popular again and enjoying that, enjoying what it has done to people and making stars of people.

"The support we're getting from people is a different kind of support from what I have ever experienced throughout my eight or nine years. That general optimism and excitement about English cricket hasn't happened for the last 15 months. People are talking about us scoring 400 and chasing down 350 with seven overs to go. And saying "Did you see that shot?" You only had to walk down the street. I think that's what's inspiring this side at the moment."

England are looking beyond inspiring 'just' the side, though. While England won the Ashes 3-0 in 2013, they never seemed to quite capture the public imagination. But this year, Cook hopes England will win over spectators not just with results, but with their style of play. They will also use their training camp in Spain to reflect on the spirit with which they will play and, specifically, whether to engage in sledging. As New Zealand showed, it is perfectly possible to play tough, uncompromising cricket with a smile not a snarl.

"We have all taken a big lesson over what happened over the last five weeks," Cook said, referring to the excellent spirit in which the matches against New Zealand were played. "No matter how much cricket you have played you are always learning. The way that both sides conducted themselves in that series was a refreshing approach and everyone enjoyed it.

"The way we play cricket - sledging and stuff - we have to do what is authentic to us as a side. Whatever we do, we have to be authentic to us as players. You can't compare this side to the side in 2011 or 2005. It has to be how this side wants to go about it and using our characters. It is part of what we will talk about at the training camp in Spain."

There was another indication of a possible change of direction from Cook towards the captaincy. While he has previously suggested he would "never" quit as captain, he has now suggested that he may rethink his position at the end of the Ashes series.

"I don't know," he said when asked if he would continue. "Since we lost Ashes 5-0 I have taken every series as an individual event. We all saw how quickly things could change at Christmas last year. I am just going to do this series.

"We have such an opportunity to play Australia here with cricket hitting the headlines for the right reasons and a real good feel factor and vibe about the game. We have got that to look forward to. Let's look at that and not worry about anything else. Come August I will sit down with everyone, with Trevor Bayliss, and we will plot a path forward or we will see. But just before an Ashes series is not the right time to talk about that."

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