Alastair Cook: I will get people off my back... I've not given in

If Alastair Cook can bat as impressively at the WACA as he spoke here on Tuesday, then perhaps England have a chance of retaining the Ashes after all.

On the cusp of his 150th Test, Cook was statesmanlike, far more comfortable speaking in public than he ever was during four-and-a-half years as Test captain. Here was the senior player reminding England of their responsibilities in the post-Bristol world, where late nights and alcohol-influenced pranks can no longer be disregarded.

Ben Stokes’s arrest following an incident outside a nightclub in Bristol, in the early hours of September 25, had changed life for England cricketers, Cook explained. They must realise that, at least for a significant period, they are living in the goldfish bowl usually inhabited by footballers, and behave accordingly.

Cook deserves immense praise for his 149 Tests, during which he has never once been dropped.

Yet for all his dexterity in front of the microphone, England really need him to show similarly decisive footwork at the crease, defying Australia’s attack as he did so efficiently during England’s 3-1 series victory here in 2010-11. Cook called this Test, which will cost England the Ashes if they lose, “the game of our lives”.

It feels particularly pertinent for him, though.

Both Mitchell Johnson, England’s nemesis on the 2013-14 Ashes tour, and Kevin Pietersen (also England’s nemesis on that tour, depending on who you believe) say the finishing line is close for Cook, who turns 33 on Christmas Day.

Cook said all the right things about his determination to carry on, his ferocious practice regime, his love of the England cap. It was just possible, though, to detect a silent ‘but’ in everything he said. With 11,691 Test runs — more than any other England player — and four Ashes wins to his name, Cook has nothing more to prove in the game, but at the moment, form is elusive. He has made only 62 runs in four innings in this series and if Cook is unable to solve that puzzle, it would be natural for thoughts of retirement to swarm his mind.

“Could this be the last series? I have no idea,” Cook admitted. “And I have said that since I gave up the captaincy earlier this year. Things change incredibly quickly.

“I was taught a lesson in 2014, ahead of the 2015 World Cup. In the morning I was expecting to lead England in that World Cup and in the afternoon I got a phone call saying they didn’t want me to do it, so you end up living on the edge in professional cricket.

“The results justify the means. If you’re scoring runs all the time your place is guaranteed and if you don’t there are plenty of other people who want your place so that hasn’t changed.

“That hasn’t changed in my 12 years and it won’t change in the next 20 years. People want your place and it’s up to me to score runs to get those people off my back.

“‘I suppose I always just keep going. I try my hardest all the time and I prepare as well as I can do.

“I try my b******s off, really — it’s as simple as that — and I’ll try to do that for as long as I can.

“It’s a very proud moment when you play for England whether it’s at the very start of your career or your last game. I’m just going to keep trying.

“People who have talked about me but have had no contact time with me wouldn’t know the extra nets I’ve been doing behind closed doors.

“I was with Gary [Palmer, batting coach] for an hour and a half yesterday morning desperately trying to keep working at my game. That’s probably not a guy who’s given in.”

Cook is right to dismiss the notion that he is going through the motions. Joe Root, his successor, has leaned on him in recent times as he tries to find a solid path through the most difficult tour of all.

If his dedication cannot be questioned, though, his enduring talent surely can. Not historically, but here, now. Cook, so long a master against the turning ball, looked very vulnerable when facing Nathan Lyon’s off-spin at Brisbane and Adelaide.

Australia believe they can exploit that old weakness outside off stump, against the quicker bowlers.

Cook’s dismissal in the second innings at Brisbane, hooking Josh Hazlewood straight to long leg at a moment when England needed his habitual restraint, was alarming.

At the start of last summer, after six months away from international cricket, Cook was surprised by how hard he needed to work in practice to get back up to speed. As he grows older, that process will become only more difficult.

Cook is a selfless player, who is not especially interested in personal milestones. He is also proud, however, and will not hang around if he senses a decline that cannot be halted.

Whatever the result at the WACA, Cook deserves to celebrate his 150 Tests. But as Cook knows better than anyone, it counts for nothing when he takes guard this week. How he performs here may determine how many more times he does so.