London, Aug.16 (ANI): Essex and England opener Alastair Cook has been retained in the national squad for the third Test against Pakistan to be played at The Oval from Wednesday, but may have to prove his worth to secure a spot for The Ashes Down Under.
According to The Independent, one decent score, preferably a century should ease most of the concerns about Cook's form.
But if Cook fails twice, then the theory that England are committed to giving him all summer to rediscover some form will start to look decidedly fragile.
"We have options. There are lots of options in lots of areas. One of the options is to stay with what we've got, and we back Alastair to come through this patch, which is a bit difficult for him. We consider everything and take everything into consideration. Alastair is not in the form he would like to be at the moment, but he is a battler and he will battle his way through it," the paper quoted chief selector Geoff Miller, as saying.
"We don't put a timescale on it. I think we are good enough now as selectors to know when the right time is, and now is not the right time to be making drastic changes. But if we have to make changes, we will," he added.
England are expected to take seven batsmen to Australia for the winter's Ashes series - and, provided Cook starts to put the record straight after scoring only 100 runs in seven Test innings against Bangladesh and Pakistan this summer, the players in question will be the half-dozen currently on duty, plus Ian Bell, who is recovering from a broken foot.
The options at the top of the order include promoting Jonathan Trott from first-drop or calling up the Hampshire opener Michael Carberry, who won a Test cap in Bangladesh in March - scoring 30 and 34 - when Cook was the captain in the absence of Andrew Strauss.
England will hope it does not come to that. (ANI)
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