James Anderson has hailed Alastair Cook's resilience, revealing there were times when he thought the opener would give up the England Test captaincy.
It has been 19 months since England suffered a humiliating 5-0 Ashes whitewash on Australian soil.
Cook's form and captaincy were heavily criticised in the aftermath, while he was also removed as one-day skipper ahead of this year's Cricket World Cup.
However, the 30-year-old has responded in fine fashion, overseeing an Ashes triumph that was secured at Trent Bridge on Saturday as England opened up an unassailable 3-1 lead over Australia.
"I'll be honest, there were times when I thought Cooky was going to quit as captain," Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker, wrote in his column for The Sun.
"His leadership was criticised, even his personality was vilified. He was subjected to all manner of attacks.
"But he never lost the respect and support of his players and has now become only the third man after WG Grace and Mike Brearley to captain England to two Ashes successes at home.
"Cooky has certainly endured some low points, such as us being whitewashed in Australia, losing to Sri Lanka at Headingley last summer, being beaten by India at Lord's and having the one-day captaincy taken away from him.
"The way he spoke at times, he sounded as though he'd had enough of the scrutiny and pressure. He could easily have walked away.
"A less-determined man would have done but he was always thinking about the best interests of the team.
"If Cooky believed the stress he was under was affecting the team, he'd have stood down but he believed he should absorb the pressure himself and deflect it away from the players.
"Thankfully he stuck with the job. What a great decision and now I hope he remains England Test captain for at least another couple of years."