`Team to blame for defeat against Proteas,' says England opener Cook

London, July 25 (ANI): England opener Alastair Cook has said that the whole team and not one individual player has to take the blame for the Leeds Test defeat against South Africa.

He told SunSport: "It hurts every time you lose, but people have to remember we are still in the middle of a Test series.

"Darren Pattinson (who made is debut for England in the Test) came and bowled his heart out - taking two wickets and bowling tight.

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"The change in players was unsettling, but the defeat had nothing to do with Darren, it was because we didn't play good cricket," Cook added.

"Yes, it's difficult when you have someone like Paul Collingwood - who I've played all my international cricket with - missing out. But we're not going to hide behind the selection, especially when the guy in question had a good game," Cook said.

"We were one down in the series against New Zealand during the winter and turned it round, so there is no reason we can't do that again," he said.

At 23, Cook has played 32 Tests for England and scored 2,382 runs, which by international cricket standards, is very good. (ANI)