Cook is battling to keep his confidence

(17) R Fahey 9-11 ....................... S Woods (7) (143) M Johnston 9-8 (D) ............... F Norton (24) Archie Watson 8-13 (BF, D2) ...... O Murphy (13)MJohnston8-12(D2) ....... JFanning (173) K Burke 8-8 .......................... Ben Curtis (11) J Goldie 8-5 (C3) ....... Phil Dennis (3) (12) K Ryan 8-5 (CD) ...................................... A Mullen BETTING: 9-4 Vj Day, 4 Bengali Boys, 5 Ghost Serge, 11-2 Prestbury Park, 8 Lord Of The Glen, Rebel Assault, 10 Myboyhenry.

6-4fav Towards rear, headway over 2f out, ridden inside final furlong, kept on to lead towards finish, won at Newcastle 6f 3yo hcp 0-75 (5) beating Montague by 1 1/4l, 8 ran. 7-1 Keen close up, edged left 4f out, ridden along over 2f out, outpaced over 1f out, 5th of 6, 7l behind Headway at Lingfield 7f 3yo Listed stks (1) pol. 6-4fav Led 3f, chased leader until over 3f out, chased leaders, no room on inside throughout final furlong, eased, 8th of 9, 11l behind Mandalayan at Lingfield 1m Novice Stakes (3yo) (5) pol in Feb. 3-1 Led, ran slightly wide into straight, ridden and headed inside final furlong, 2nd of 4, 1 1/2l behind Desert Doctor at Lingfield 6f 3yo hcp 0-95 (3) pol. 7-2 Behind, pushed along and outpaced halfway, switched left to far side over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, went 2nd final 100 yards, no chance with winner, 2nd of 4, 1 1/4l behind Grandfather Tom at Newcastle 5f hcp 0-85 (4).

6-1 Led, ridden and headed over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong, 4th of 9, 4l behind Speak In Colours at Doncaster 6f 2yo lst stk (1) gs in Oct. 66-1 Chased leaders, lost place over 3f out, well beaten over 2f out, 8th of 9, 13l behind Elarqam at Newmarket 7f 2yo Grp 3 (1) gs in Sep. ALASTAIR COOK admits it is a daily struggle to conquer the selfdoubts which can constrain even his record run-scoring habits.

Cook will use this winter’s brilliant Ashes double-century in Melbourne as his crutch when he sets out to do what he does best yet again in his 153rd Test against New Zealand in Auckland.

The opener, about to embark on his 43rd series, passed a nationalrecord 12,000 runs in his last innings - when he was unable to stop England descending to a 4-0 defeat under his captaincy successor Joe Root in Sydney.

One match previously, Cook had ended a miserable run of form with an unbeaten 244 in the drawn Boxing Day Test.

“To bat as badly as I did for two months, and then for 10 hours bat as well as I’ve ever done, is quite strange,” he said. “(But) it shows I have (still) got it. “To be able to bat like that, you’ve got to be doing the right stuff mentally and still be on it.”

Yet there were significant doubts before he delivered his MCG tourde-force.

Immediately afterwards, Cook spoke of his “last-chance saloon”, and “embarrassment” over his lack of runs.

After making a mere 25 - to Root’s 115 - in his final warm-up innings against a New Zealand XI in Hamilton, he revisited the same theme.

He said: “There were moments when it was tough, you question yourself. ‘Am I still good enough to play at the real elite level?’

“Not that the hunger has run out - but is it all worth it?

“It is an easy story to write when a slightly older player isn’t scoring runs - ‘Is he going to give up? Is he thinking about it?’

“When you keep piling the effort in and you’re not doing very well for two months in a big series, you start doubting yourself.”

Melbourne changed all that - for now, at least. He said: “I batted like I did when it was as hard as it could be mentally - because you’re thinking ‘If I get another couple of low scores, things are really going to get tough for me.’

“To keep going like that and then deliver shows you have something.”

Cook’s other significant challenge these days is to keep striking the right balance in support of Root.

The Yorkshireman is putting his own stamp on the team, an intention signalled afresh perhaps when he took the new ball off Stuart Broad this week.

“I do think in his mind after the Ashes (he was) thinking ‘How do I re-build the side?”’ Cook said of Root.

“I still wouldn’t be surprised if Stuart did take the new ball [in Auckland]... but I think there is a really great opportunity to see other people - because with 900 wickets between [Broad and James Anderson], you do know what you’re going to get.”

In the bigger picture, Cook’s advice will remain diplomatic.

“I feel I can tell Rooty what I feel, and it’s up to him whether he uses it,” Cook said. “If you do talk in a meeting, I make sure I’m clear on what I want to say because I know the impact an ex-captain can have.”