Couldnāt the question be construed as, nobody has been able to form an effective opening partnership with Cook, who has been demonstrably out of nick for well over a year; why are we not dropping him and starting afresh? Who is the common denominator here?
Stoneman was batting a better average than Cook and he got dropped. Iād be looking to find someone to open with him instead. Michael Vaughan was on the radio earlier saying that Cook has āearned the right to dictate his own destinyā or some such bollocks. This is all completely antithetical to a team sport.
The partnership of Strauss and Cook was largely predicated on Cookās stoicism and Straussās relative impetus. When your stoic player is going to fiddle around pointlessly and then nick off for under 20, the pressure is all on his partner to play the shots, to make something happen. Thatās been the undoing of Vince and Jennings.
Cook has been brilliant for England for years, but heās not brilliant now. He unbalances the top order, heās a walking wicket and the trigger for a collapse.
