Cook is back on front foot
AS alaStair Cook made runs while others fell around him, it felt like old times. But while England’s latest collapse suggested they had learned nothing from a miserable winter, Cook’s batting told of renewal. this was not the innings of a man who believes he is on his way out.
a few weeks ago at a sponsor’s function in tunbridge Wells, he spoke matter-of-factly about the motivation he derives from his critics — who are less numerous and vociferous than he imagines.
But if the suspicion gets him going, England won’t complain. on a day like this, his siege mentality served them well.
his observation provided a telling insight: the fire still burns. all he needed to do, he suggested, was see off the new ball. his mental strength would do the rest.
in New Zealand, the wiles of left- arm seamer trent Boult proved beyond him. a series haul of 23 runs at 5.75 was his worst ever. the end, they said, was nigh. But Cook likes nothing better than to thwart the obituarists.
as early as the third over, when he tucked Mohammad amir off his hip, then eased him through extra cover, there were signs that he had relocated the fluency he lost during the winter.
it helped that Pakistan were hell bent on pitching the ball up, which allowed Cook to park on the front foot. and when that happens, he finds the balance at the crease that is so vital to his game. Even so, he batted with a decisiveness not seen since his double- century against West indies at Edgbaston last year. ‘i’ve played nicely this summer for Essex,’ he said. ‘But a few things had crept into my game over the last six months. in New Zealand, i couldn’t get my weight back into the ball, so i had to go away and work on it. i thought it was decent today. it was nice to get a few, but it’s frustrating when you do the hard work and don’t go on and get a hundred.’
there were even a couple of straight drives — the stroke which best conveys whether Cook is in nick — and by the time he brought up his half- century, England’s total was only 80. For once, he was setting the pace. Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes hinted briefly at permanence. But, without their former captain, England would have dug themselves an even deeper hole. it may be an apt metaphor: Cook himself has spoken of going back to the well, and of knowing when the moment comes to stop.
that moment, it seems, is not here yet. Even while he drove with aplomb, he was leaving with assurance.
But conditions were perilous, and judgment was at a premium. and there was little he could do about the delivery from amir that held its line and hit his stumps. Cook has been accused, of late, of feast or famine, so an innings of 70 was both unfamiliar and welcome. it’s just a shame his team-mates did not show the same resolve.