Statistics show Cook has personal point to prove

BRISBANE, (Reuters) – England opener Alastair Cook  knows he has a personal point to prove heading into the Ashes  series this week, with the statistics showing all too clearly  the problems he has had against Australia’s bowlers.

Despite a gutsy century in the third test of the 2006-07  series, the 25-year-old left-hander boasts a paltry average of  26.21 in 10 Ashes tests against the Australians.
“It’s obviously something that I’ve got to prove to people,”  he told reporters yesterday, two days before the start of the  series. “It’s one side that I haven’t done as well against as I  have against other sides.

“You can’t hide behind the fact of that statistic, and  hopefully over the next two months I can prove people wrong on  that.”

Cook, who burst onto the international scene with a century  against India on his debut in 2006, is certain he is a far  better player than the callow 21-year-old who disappointed when  England went down to a 5-0 defeat on their last tour of  Australia.

“I think I’d played nine test matches and now I’ve got 60  under my belt,” he said.
“I’ve seen a lot more cricket, I’ve experienced the highs of  scoring some runs, and the lows of not scoring runs, so I feel  as though I’m more complete and that I understand what I have to  do to score runs.

“The challenge of having that experience is being able to  use it in the right way. Hopefully I can do that in this month  and prove to people that I can score runs here.”
Cook has had an up-and-down year, leading England to a 2-0  series victory over Bangladesh when his opening partner Andrew  Strauss took a break but then hitting a barren spell.
England stuck with him and were rewarded with an  uncharacteristically aggressive century in the third test  against Pakistan.

Having proved the doubters wrong once this year, Cook is  happy to go under the microscope again in the tricky Australian  conditions.

“It doesn’t bring any more pressure … there’s enough  pressure walking out to open the batting in the Ashes series,”  he added. “I’m really looking forward to trying to get those  runs behind me and trying to improve my record against  Australia.”

Settled and confident, England are reckoned to have a good  chance of ending the 24-year wait for an Ashes triumph in  Australia this year and Cook said the squad were all looking  forward to getting down to business at the Gabba tomorrow.

“We’re excited,” he said. “As an English player coming for  the Ashes in Australia, it’s a very exciting place to be at the  moment.”