PIETERSEN FEARS COOK IS COOKED

KEVIN PIETERSEN has expressed his fears over Alastair Cook’s form and has questioned whether the fire still burns for the ex-England captain.

KP has seen his old team-mate struggle in this Ashes series and has started to wonder if England’s greatest run scorer has run out of road in his incredible career.

It is worth pointing out that the pair have had a fractious relationship – but they also shared some of the greatest successes the country has known.

“I don’t know if he can turn things around,” said Pietersen (right). “Ricky Ponting talked before the series saying he’s going to find it difficult after getting rid of the captaincy.

“It looks like Cook is not very interested. The manner of his dismissals and the way he’s walked off. That’s the sign of a bloke who goes, ‘Maybe my time is up’.” Cook has come through slumps before and England need big runs from him in Perth. “He’s resilient,” added KP. “He’s a wonderful player and got a hundred at the WACA before. But there’s no signs there’s any fire in his belly.” England need contributions from the rest of their batsmen too, none of whom have scored an Ashes hundred Down Under. Pietersen did it twice, including his highest Test score of 227 in Adelaide in 2010. He said: “It takes guts, it takes bravery, it takes skill and it takes positivity.

“I want to see somebody try to get on top of the Australian bowlers.

“That’s what I did. I was like, ‘The quicker you come the quicker you’re gonna go.’” Watch The Ashes exclusively live on BT Sport, as well as short free highlights daily from 7pm on bt.com and the BT Sport app. www.bt.com/sport