Alastair Cook opts to remain England captain

England captain Alastair Cook has revealed that he will stay on as skipper after the Ashes series this summer.

The opening batsman has endured a tough 18 months as captain due to a heavy Ashes series defeat in Australia in 2013-14, followed by his omission from the one-day team.

The left-hander admitted that he considered his future, but is looking forward to touring Pakistan in October.

He told the Daily Mail: "I pretty much decided last Sunday. I woke up and immediately started thinking about trying to win the Ashes 4-1 and then about what we will have to do to win against Pakistan.

"It came quickly to me to start planning ahead and that told me that I probably wanted to carry on a bit longer.

"At the start of this summer I didn't know what was going to happen and I wasn't sure if I would continue beyond the Ashes. But while you've still got the opportunity to be England captain and you've still got more to give, which I now feel I have, then you need to carry on and give it your all."

The fifth Ashes Test gets underway on Thursday, with England 3-1 up in the series.