Alastair Cook excited at 'new era'

Alastair Cook, England's Test opener and vice-captain, has said the difficult tour of South Africa is the beginning of a "new era". Cook was part of the Ashes-winning side this summer but was fully aware that England need to overcome the weight of history if they harbour hopes of a victorious campaign over the best side in the world.

"Without a doubt we can do something special and beat South Africa. Beating Australia was a huge thing for us, but now we can stay together and grow as a team and in truth we've already put a line under the Ashes and have moved on," he said ahead of England's ten-day stay in Bloemfontein. "That is the philosophy of the two Andys [Flower and Strauss], for us to focus on the next job in hand and not think too much about the past. It is about constant improvement as individuals and as a team and that is where we are."

Cook seemed to be mirroring the attitude of his captain Andrew Strauss when he spoke of the approach England were taking towards the Test series. "It is always an exciting time at the start of the tour, and it is almost the start of a new era for this young group of players going to a tough place to play cricket," he said. "The challenge is there for us and after what we did in the summer it is a great place to go and follow on from that.

"It doesn't have the same hype as the Ashes but on paper they are the No. 1 side in the world and we're going to play them in their back yard, so it doesn't get any bigger than that. The last time we went to play Australia away, they were the No 1. side and we saw what happened [losing the Test series 5-0], so we know what a big challenge this is going to be and it is something we can definitely rise to."

After the Ashes victory in 2009, Cook went back to Essex and worked with Graham Gooch to rectify certain technical issues. He will be challenged once again when he faces one of the best fast-bowling attacks in the world. "I've got to score the runs expected of an opening batsman and it is my main priority," he said. "Hopefully this winter will see me score plenty, and from a leadership point of view you can never ask a player to do anything you are not prepared to do yourself."