alfie wrote:Think you hit the nail on the head there , Sussex. For whatever reason , Cook began to doubt his (ability ? desire ? Right to a place ?) and has been operating this season with a clouded mind...unsure whether he should fight it out as he always has , or give way to the march of time...
backfootpunch wrote:[
He's been fighting his whole career
Been fighting an average technique for 160 test matches
I disagree with point these points, but I will explain imo my reasoning.
Firstly, I think we need to separate conflicting character traits when manifested in different environments. Cook is undoubtedly always been a batsman of superb dedication on the pitch, he rarely if ever plays rash shots to get out, you always have to get him out, or he will continue to bat with the same approach. Yet, much in the same way as I never did homework at school because I had better things to do, but always worked hard in class and achieved grades, I think this is also a trait in Cook. Technique is a result of hard work, and its not a static thing. I think people have a misconception that people can pick up a bat and will fall always into their natural technique, but a batters natural technique is only the result of work. The purest nature technique that exists is the first time you pick up a bat and just do what feels right, which is not the way to get best results. Once your taught what to do and apply it, its almost like your body wants to take you back to that first time, to what was comfortable and natural.... and your mind has a habit of affirming this minute, slow process by telling you each step is right. You simply dont notice much decline or changes. You think you are doing exactly the same thing, while in actual fact, you arent.
So you need to work hard to maintain that technique. Imo, I think its obvious by the way in which there is clear technical decline in his game, he didnt work hard enough at his game to maintain it. As soon as you arent constantly reminding yourself exactly what that technique is, you are slowly forgetting it. You setup, and your hands are slightly off. The hands slightly lower means maybe you are leaning a little more. The head is no longer steady, which means the feet arent moving. And its cyclic.... the more you let that pattern continue, the more it goes out of synch.
Two times in his career he has followed relative lean patches, with long term disaster, where his technique has fallen apart. The first time, he came back. He was young, hungrier and worked at his game. The second time, it went on as a slowish decline for 5 years, and then the doors blew off again. I dont see this as a fluke. To me its clear he started as a sound batsman. He declined. He worked hard to reinstate that, and become brilliant for a couple of years, then the foot came off the gas and he declined. I think it was always visually there for anyone to see.
For that reason, I dont think he had a bad technique. He had a good one, as good a technique anyone could hope for when he was focused on his improvement and working on it. He just didnt maintain it. His technique is a lot of moving part, that little almost crouch he does, where the bat raises, the head lowers, and then comes back up so hes on the balls of his feet.... thats a high risk move. It requires precision to make sure that after it, as the feet get moving, everything has steadied enough to see the ball coming and to react to it. Its those triggers, when hes not quite timing it, or not quite trusting it... those are the ones. At this level, you cant be thinking about it. It has to be worked to the point everything can be trusted, and what you are trusting is a sound base coming from recent muscle memory.
I guess its hard to judge really. Captaining a side, playing like they do away from home all the time, playing how many days and hours they do compared to other sports, with all the complications of touring and being around various dressing rooms...... it all explains and mitigates why a batsman wouldnt have much of a window to do that type of work, but obviously people do. Kolhi does. Others do. If Cook had done it, Id have no doubt hed have achieved more. He'd probably be able to get to about now, nearly 34, and take the foot off the pedal and reach this stage in 2022.
I did say on another thread though, after 160 matches he doesnt need to apologise for not wanting to. We are debating his relative merits in the position of history, not whether or not he was a good or even brilliant player.Thats a given. Yet, on a whole, his career will always strike as undervalued. He didnt achieve enough for what he had, which was at his very best a iron will to score, a patience few are blessed with, and a very effective technical defence that made him as hard to get out as anyone, mixed with enough shots to punish bad balls.