Third Ashes Test: Five players who need to stand up and be counted

4. Alastair Cook

766 runs in seven innings in the Ashes of 2010-11, England’s leading Test century maker with 23 hundreds and also the youngest batsmen to pass 7000 runs in Test history. The credentials are on the sheet and its visible in his performances on the field – the England captain has been sensational over the past five years. But scores of 13, 50, 12 and 8 just don’t do justice to this man.

If there is an area England could look to improve in, it’s the opening batting situation, where the opening stands have just failed to materialize. The English will not want to provide the Aussies with even a sniff of a chance, and it will be important for Cook to stand up and shut the door once and for all.