Andy Flower's men had struggled away from home prior to impressing in the second Test against Sri Lanka, Pakistan bundling them out for under 200 four times in six innings as they completed a 3-0 whitewash.

England did triumph in the subsequent one-day series and a handful of Test specialists came out to Sri Lanka a week early to hone their technique against spin.

However, the tourists posted 193 in the first innings in Galle in the first Test, eventually going down by 75 runs and extending their losing sequence to four in a row.

In contrast, England posted a healthy 460 in Colombo with Kevin Pietersen their star man with a stunning 151 and an unbeaten 42 as their losing streak was halted in style.

Runs

"The bowlers have been outstanding all winter, but the batters haven't got the runs we'd have liked," he told ECB.co.uk.

"The Test match was normal service. We batted long periods and gave a chance to our bowlers to rest up.

"A score of 460 in the first innings is what you need to win games.

"It was a good team effort, but Kevin was outstanding...it was a match-winning effort.

"All the batsmen struggled to score quickly and he came in and got a 150 at almost a run a ball. That was really the difference between the two sides.

"The top three of me, Straussy and Jonathan Trott is there to give a platform for our stroke players like Kevin, Ian Bell and Matt Prior. We haven't done that on these two tours but in this game we did.

"It was a good way to end the tour with a win."

Disappointing

Cook knows losing four straight Test matches was disappointing for all concerned, although he feels they have learned from their experience in the sub-continent.

"You never want to lose a Test so to lose four in a row was very disappointing," he continued.

"We set out this winter to crack sub-continental conditions.

"But we've learnt as a side again. We've taken a few steps back but sometimes you have to do that in your career.

"Watch the way Kev struggled against Pakistan, the way he worked on his game and ironed out the flaws so he could play the way he played yesterday. That shows we have to keep working."