Graham Thorpe feels Alastair Cook is ‘still hungry’
England batting coach Graham Thorpe feels that no one is more disappointed by Alastair Cooks performance than the Englishman himself and he is still as hungry as ever. He also revealed that Cook is trying some different things in the nets and a big score is a matter of spending time in the middle.
Alastair Cook is undoubtedly one of the best openers to have represented England and he has the numbers to prove that he was the among the very best in the world for more than a decade. He has been doing a thankless job at the top of the order and he is finding ways to score runs. A few months back, Sunil Gavaskar felt that with the way Alastair Cook is going and if he plays for another 4 years, the England opener could well come close to Sachin Tendulkar’s record.
However, in recent times, he has come under the scanner. He scored 899 runs at an average of 47.32 in 2017. His numbers are boosted by the two double tons he’s scored. Apart from those two knocks, there were only two 50+ knocks in the entire year. In 2018, though, he’s played 6 innings and has scored just 72 runs. which has led to a lot of people doubting Cook’s hunger and will to play for England.
However, England batting coach Graham Thorpe thinks that Cook is still hungry and has a great work ethic based on his hard would in the nets.
“A lot of people have doubted Cook’s hunger and will to play for England. You can see that from the way he goes about his work in the nets. He’s trying some different things as well, he’s trying to positive when he goes into the nets, and I think we just saw a little bit of that today. We saw a little bit of the freedom he wants to play with,” Graham Thorpe was quoted saying by Hindustan Times.
Cook has scored just 23 runs in 4 innings in the ongoing Test series in New Zealand. He has often been caught fishing around the off-stump and is nicking ball behind the stumps. Cook in his prime would generally leave those deliveries but he is fiddling with those deliveries in the channel outside off-stump. But Thorpe feels that a big score is just a matter of spending some time at the crease.
“Unfortunately, he got a good ball and played at one outside off stump. He was out for a low score but no one is more disappointed than Alastair. Over the years we’ve come to know how he operates. We’re always saying he’s just a few hours at the crease away from a big score, so that’s the bit he has to keep in his mind as well,” the England batting coach added.
England
