England captain Alastair Cook has praised his teammates for their performance in the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord's.

The Three Lions have taken a 2-0 lead in the series and will look to seal victory in the next Test at Old Trafford.

Cook said that England not only played brilliant cricket, underlined by centuries from Ian Bell and Joe Root, but dug in when necessary as well.

"We've played some pretty good cricket," Cook told Sky Sports News. "We have also had to scrap very hard throughout this game - we were 30-3 in both innings.

"People have had to stand up with the bat with Belly's 100 in the first innings and Rooty's in the second innings. We put them under pressure at the start of their innings which was fantastic and obviously our bowlers have done a great job.

"When it is dry we have a world-class spinner in Swanny (Graeme Swann) and the lads know how to reverse swing a ball so it has worked well for us in this game. We are a side that is pretty comfortable in any English conditions."

The third Test gets underway on August 1.