Alastair Cook wants England to show their nicer side under Peter Moores

Alastair Cook believes England can learn from their rugby counterparts in changing public perception. Photograph: Andrew Cowie/AFP/Getty Images

Alastair Cook has accepted that England became too "insular" during the latter stages of Andy Flower's reign as head coach and has vowed to change the culture within the team after a miserable tour to Australia.

Criticism that England's players do not have a positive rapport with the public surfaced during the 5-0 Ashes whitewash, something that Cook, the captain, and the new coach, Peter Moores, are looking to rectify during the Lancastrian's second spell in charge.

Moores begins his tenure in Aberdeen on Friday, where England play a one-day international against Scotland before the series with Sri Lanka. There are a number of injury concerns going into the summer, notably to Matt Prior and Ben Stokes, while Steven Finn was not selected for the Scotland match despite performing well for Middlesex in the County Championship this season.

Cook, speaking at the launch of England's sponsorship deal with Waitrose, accepted that building a positive relationship with the public is something Australia achieved successfully under Darren Lehmann, who turned their fortunes round following their Ashes defeat in England last summer.

"They did it very well," said Cook of Australia's return to prominence. "You do look at other sides and how they operate. It always helps when you win games of cricket but maybe we became very insular as a side. It worked well for us but when things aren't going well you have nothing left to fall back on.

"The guys in the dressing room are good people, they are nice guys and the public don't see that enough. We should always remember how lucky we are to play for England and we should do it representing the country with pride. Maybe people don't see that enough.

"It will take some effort to show that and, if we copy Australia a little bit in the way they did that, they should be given some credit as well."

Cook believes England can learn from the progression of the national rugby union side, who have improved performances since Stuart Lancaster was appointed permanent head coach in March 2012 and have attempted to connect with the public in the run-up to next year's World Cup.

Shane Warne questioned if England were being deliberately "arrogant and dismissive" last August, with particular criticism of Prior, whom he accused of being "smug". Cook, though, says there can be a lot to learn from Lancaster and the union operation.

"Lessons should be learned from the way they have gone about it," said Cook. "Huge credit to Stuart and the guys for the way they have managed to change that. I imagine it has taken a hell of a lot of work and effort. They came second in the Six Nations three years in a row but everyone can see the development of the side. I went to watch them play against Ireland and it was a brilliant day.

"I shouldn't talk too much about rugby but Stuart has obviously made some big calls about big players at certain stages of their career. He has picked people who are in form and who are playing well. Chris Ashton, he is an outstanding winger, he had a drop of form and they replaced him with a guy in form. Now 'Ash the Splash' has come back and done very well for Saracens and is back in the frame. That drives a higher standard."

Cook has had a number of discussions with Moores about the team's direction and believes his second spell will be more fruitful than the first. He said: "It was about getting back to know Peter again, hammering out what he thought my values were and me then asking him questions and getting some middle ground, which wasn't too hard."