English hopes that Cook could channel the Herculean effort that saw him score 766 runs in their 2010/11 triumph Down Under have proved forlorn. Australia has often proved to be a tour too far for veteran England players, as was shown by the 2013/14 debacle which ended the careers of Graeme Swann, Matt Prior and Kevin Pietersen. But the raw 23-year-old can scarcely be expected to cover the gaping hole which the absence of Anderson and Broad’s 900-odd wickets of Test experience would leave. Cook, by comparison, contributed only 21 runs in his two innings at the WACA. A fine servant of English cricket with over 11,000 Test runs, Cook will be 33 when he lines up for the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

Source: The Express Tribune December 19, 2017 10:13 UTC