Cook’s down to earth

THE scrutiny on England’s record run- scorer Alastair Cook, who will make his 150th Test appearance in Perth, is now so intense owing to his poor form that every factor is analysed as a clue to his appetite for continuing his international career after the Ashes.

This extended to his reading matter on the flight to Australia, which reportedly included an agricultural book about organic soils. That led to some far-fetched suggestions that Cook, who married into a farming family, already had his focus on a career after cricket.

League newcomers Huddersfield are the latest club to discuss doing a fly-on-the-wall TV documentary this season. But time is running out for a deal to be done with the campaign approaching halfway.