It's time for England captain Alastair Cook to turn back clock – and quickly

Cook must start scoring centuries in this series if he is to continue as England’s captain

(Getty Images)

It all started for Alastair Cook on this island. Nine years ago he was in the middle of a match here when he was summoned to play for England in India.

Three days later he was batting in his maiden Test match in Nagpur. He made 60 and an unbeaten 104, the youngest man to score a hundred for England in nearly 50 years. What a simple game it seemed then. His captain in that match was Andrew Flintoff, who offered the judgement that Cook batted like a man who had played 100 Tests.

And now he has – 110 to be precise – and he must have wondered as he prepared to leave Antigua again what that feeling was like. It would be wrong to suggest that Cook batted in the First Test against West Indies as if it was his first.

But scores of 11 and 13 and a self-inflicted dismissal in the second of those innings only increased the number of vultures circling around his captaincy of the team. The match ended in a draw because West Indies resisted England for 130 overs.

Alastair Cook reacts after being dismissed (Getty Images)

Cook delivered a perfunctory assessment of his performance in the aftermath. “It’s obviously a disappointing start to the series not to score runs,” he said. “Hopefully, I can change that next time.”

At least one of two things, and preferably both, needs to happen for Cook to see off those stalking him. He needs to score runs and England need to win. In the first match of a series which England were supposed to dominate, neither happened.

By now, Cook has used up most of the credit he had in the bank. This, lest it be forgotten, was substantial: the 25 Test hundreds, the winning of the Ashes and the triumph in India as captain. But the last of the 25 was 33 innings ago, and the Ashes were rudely ripped away.

Throughout last summer at home, Cook’s batting and leadership were constantly under scrutiny. This is the fate of all England captains, of course, but with Cook it took on a deeper, more insistent tone. Sometimes it seemed personal.

He finished the summer, again lest it be forgotten, in the ascendancy. India were beaten 3-1 and Cook scored three fifties. It was hardly his fault that India sleepwalked to defeat and the generous-spirited would say that he helped to engineer it.

But a hundred for any batsman is significant for all manner of reasons. Cook knows it – and it continues to elude him. The two aspects must have a bearing on the other: either the captaincy affects his batting or his batting affects the captaincy, probably the former.

If England somehow fail to win this series, it would be difficult to see Cook carrying on. No one should underestimate the depth of West Indies’ anger at the words of the incoming chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, who suggested that there would be an inquiry if England failed to win against a moderate side. Perhaps there was an element of truth in Colin Graves’ pronouncement but it was unquestionably condescending.

After the valiant rearguard action, led ultimately by Jason Holder, who scored a maiden hundred, several of the West Indies contingent said something along the lines of: “What’s Mr Graves got to say now?” Nothing, one hopes, for a while. He has already made less straightforward a task that was never as straightforward as everyone glibly assumed. England have won only one of their last eight series in the Caribbean.

Cook needs runs quickly and he needs a victory in about the same amount of time, which is to say in Grenada in the Second Test, which starts on Tuesday. England have 17 Test matches to play this year and if they cannot win here they cannot win anywhere.

They at least seem accepting of the fact that only if they win the remaining 16 and Cook scores a hundred in all of them will his position be secure. And then not in every quarter. Peter Moores, the coach whose own future is uncertain, was sanguine yesterday.

He said: “The first part is, are you playing well in practice? Are your feet moving well? Are you hitting the ball well? Yes, he’s hitting the ball well. Even in the two innings, you could see he’s found some form, how he’s moving, hitting the ball through extra-cover, straight, clipping it off his legs, he’s playing his style of play.

“The fact that he didn’t make a score is very frustrating. He’s a very good player. He finished strongly against India, which has almost been forgotten. He came out of that series with a very healthy average, 46 or 47, and played to his strengths. He’s played over 100 Tests, he knows his role. So he’ll be totally focused on the captaincy but also on his role as an opening batter.”

Cook’s position at the top of the order is complicated by the decision to make Jonathan Trott his opening partner. Trott has been recalled to the side following a long period of rehabilitation after he left the Ashes tour of 2013-14 with a stress-related condition. His failures in Antigua did not suggest he was ready.

Should England fail to turn their superiority into a victory in Grenada, the debate will continue to rage. They have to decide quickly whether to include Moeen Ali, probably at the expense of James Tredwell, and where he should bat. But Cook’s form and status are dominating all. How things have changed since he left Antigua in 2006.

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Ashes to dust - Cook v Australia

2006-07 in Australia

Runs 1st,2nd,Total

First Test, Brisbane 11,43,54

Second Test, Adelaide 27,9,36

Third Test, Perth 15,116,131

Fourth Test, Melbourne 11,20,31

Fifth Test, Sydney 20,4,24

Average: 27.60

2009 in England

Runs 1st 2nd Total

First Test, Cardiff 10,6,16

Second Test, Lord’s 95,32,127

Third Test, Edgbaston 0,dnb,0

Fourth Test, Headingley 30,30,60

Fifth Test, The Oval 10,9,19

Average: 24.66

2010-11 in Australia

Runs 1st 2nd Total

First Test, Brisbane 67,235*,302

Second Test, Adelaide 148,dnb,148

Third Test, Perth 32,13,45

Fourth Test, Melbourne 82,dnb,82

Fifth Test, Sydney 189,dnb,189

Average: 109.43

2013 in England

Runs 1st 2nd Total

First Test, Trent Bridge 13,50,63

Second Test, Lord’s 12,8,20

Third Test, Old Trafford 62,0,62

Fourth Test, Riverside 51,22,73

Fifth Test, The Oval 25,34,59

Average: 27.70

2013-14 in Australia

Runs 1st 2nd Total

First Test, Brisbane 13,65,78

Second Test, Adelaide 3,1,4

Third Test, Perth 72,0,72

Fourth Test, Melbourne 27,51,78

Fifth Test, Sydney 7,7,14

Average: 24.60