Cork, ready to uncork, looks eagerly ahead for Ashes debut

No cricketer could have enjoyed his first taste of Test more than Cork, and his success was all the sweeter because he had been made to wait through four England A tours before his senior debut.

For someone whose up-and-at-’em approach is the key ingredient in his cricket, Cork’s 7-43 destruction of the West Indies on debut at Lord’s didn’t come as a surprise to those who knew him.

“It not just aggression,” Cork said on Monday. “It is controlled aggression. I always want to win. I bowl an aggressive line, a line the batsmen find difficult to play shots.”

Soon after his breakthrough the banner headlines screamed of a new find. A new Ian Botham.

But, Cork, recently appointed captain of atroubled Derbyshire, is eager to play down comparisons to England’s greatest all-rounder who regularly tormented Australia.

“At the end of the day, people got to realize, there will only ever be one Ian Botham, one Viv Richards, one Richard Hadlee, and one Imran Khan,” Cork said. “To emulate someone as these great people is impossible.”

Cork, went from strength to strength and clearly relished the combat of Test cricket when he later inspired England with a half-century and a hat-trick in only his third match.

But his aggressive on-field persona sometimes got under the skins of the opposition.

“I know it annoys the opposition, but that’s the way I play, and I want them to know I mean business,” cork said. “Why change it because it is Test cricket?”

The Australian players are considered the world leaders in harassing their opponents, but they may find Cork tests their ability to receive.

England has arrived in Australia in a more confident frame of mind than on other recent tours.

Cork,who has scored 595 runs and taken 94 wickets, believes the current team is capable of turning the positive talk into results against Mark Taylor’s team.

“We know how hard it is going to be and we are prepared for it. We’ve come here to win, nothing else will do,” Cork said. “A Test against Australia, is the biggest an Englishman can play in. We are here to take the Ashes home, and that’s what we intend to do.”

And he intends having a loud say in the matter, not just with his mouth but also with his play.

“It is the ultimate series,” Cork said of the ashes. “I haven’t played against Australia before. It is a nice time for me to make my debut, especially in their home country. It is a little boy’s dream, when you become a cricketer, to play against Australia.”