Alastair Cook is hoping his 150th Test goes rather better than his 100th, which took place at the Waca four years ago. England were defeated by 150 runs, which meant they lost the Ashes at the earliest opportunity and Cook was out first ball in the second innings to a devastating delivery from Ryan Harris, which just clipped his off bail. It was not the perfect anniversary.
Once Cook steps on to the field at the Waca on Thursday morning there will be only seven cricketers in the world who have played more Tests. It is a long time since he made his debut, as an emergency replacement, against India in Nagpur along with Monty Panesar and Ian Blackwell in 2006. Since then he has missed one Test for England – the Mumbai match in 2006 – because of ill health. He has never been dropped.
“I probably did not think I would be here when I turned up in Nagpur all those years ago,” he said. “It’s very special in terms of a personal milestone. Not many people play 150 Tests and to do it at the top of the order, I’m quite proud of that. Hopefully there can be a few more after this one.” No opening batsman has played as many matches as Cook; among that special breed Sunil Gavaskar with 125 matches is the next on the list.
The landmark falls at a tricky time again. England have lost their past seven Tests in Perth; the Ashes campaign is on the brink of petering out and Cook has managed to produce only 62 runs in two matches. He is not over-egging the challenge ahead when he says: “We’ve got the biggest game of our lives coming up and we’ve got to scrap unbelievably hard for five days.”
The pitch at the Waca is likely to be a little more batsman-friendly than in the past: true but not quite so fast as it once was. There was a nasty run-glut between Australia and New Zealand in 2015 but in 2016 South Africa managed to win a high-scoring game. There will still be some bounce and in recent times Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have been bowling so well this might be enough for them to take 20 wickets with the expert assistance of Nathan Lyon. Moreover Australia have taken the precaution of including Mitchell Marsh in their squad – and probably in their final XI – to ensure Steve Smith has another bowling option. England are likely to stick with the team who played in Adelaide. Mark Wood is not in contention and it would be an incredible gamble to include Mason Crane instead of Craig Overton, who began his Test career so pluckily in Adelaide.
If ever England needed a special innings from Cook it is now and it would not do any harm to his plans. He has been around long enough to know his position is starting to come under scrutiny. “Four games ago I got a double-hundred. So it’s amazing how the cycle of the world goes.”
Cook shuns too much technical analysis when trying to explain his longevity as an England batsman. “I try my bollocks off really; it’s as simple as that and I’ll try to do that for as long as I can.” He is also aware that there is a bit of sniping going on from outside. Mitchell Johnson, presumably doing his patriotic duty, has said: “You’ve got guys like Cook who is struggling. He can’t find form. I’d say he’s thinking about retirement.” Kevin Pietersen, for different reasons perhaps, has said Cook does not look interested.
Almost wearily Cook responds to these observations: “It’s just judged on results isn’t it? The people who are saying that have had no contact with me. They wouldn’t know about the extra nets I’ve been having behind closed doors. I was with Gary [Palmer] for an hour and a half yesterday morning working on my game. That’s probably not a guy who has given in.”
Oddly enough the part of his game that was faulty in Adelaide had nothing to do with his capacity to deal with the new ball. It was his batting against quality off-spin that faltered. He was moving more decisively against the pacemen than the spinner.
Cook is as dedicated as they come and as a senior player he may be aghast at some of the recent antics of his colleagues but he also volunteered this information about a team who fear they are losing their connection with their fans again. “One thing I will say about this England side – and it’s even changed since I was captain – is that I’ve never seen a side work this hard.
“Whether we win, lose or draw, whether we play well or rubbish, the effort from the guys is unbelievable. There is a group of men in there desperate to do well and Trevor Bayliss is cancelling practice sessions after three and a half/four hours. He’s saying: ‘You’ve go to stop now; you’re wasting energy; you’ve got to save it for the Test.’”
Of course, sweat and toil on the training ground is no guarantee of success. There are never any guarantees as Cook often points out. “It doesn’t matter how many games you’ve played or what you’ve done before, you still go out on nought every time you bat whether you’re playing your first game or your 150th. It doesn’t get any easier. But that’s why it’s called Test cricket. It’s meant to be hard.”
