Cricket: Cook Aims to Push Captain Down Order

Michael Vaughan is eager to reclaim the England captaincy for the Sri Lanka one-day series and the Pakistan Tests that follow and, if that lifts the pressure off his stand-in Andrew Flintoff, it increases the demands on the batsman trying to make a name for himself at No3, Alastair Cook.

Cook enters the third Test against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge tomorrow knowing that it will take a supreme performance to persuade the selectors to retain him at first-wicket down and accommodate Vaughan lower in the order. As a batsman winning only his fifth Test cap he can hardly expect to usurp Marcus Trescothick or Andrew Strauss at opener - although, considering Strauss' flabby approach recently, a bit of competition would be no bad thing - and replacing Paul Collingwood at No5 is not a convincing solution for a batsman who has never batted there at first-class level.

An unbeaten 34 at Edgbaston against Muttiah Muralitharan on a turning surface, impressive as it was, hardly amounts to a full CV for batting in the middle order. This is a time when a reputation as the most talented young batsman in England does not offer much in the way of job security. "Everyone knows that's what England selection has been based on," Cook said. "If you are in the shirt and scoring runs it makes selection very tough. If I keep scoring runs, and big runs at that, I should hopefully keep my place."

The Essex player has already won favour over Ian Bell, a regular during the Ashes series, but if he produces the form to force Vaughan to bat down the order in the four-Test series with Pakistan, then expect to see a lot of him over the next five days.

"It's good that Vaughan's fitness is on the mend," Cook said. "We've always been slightly criticised for a lack of strength and to have the squad we have now, leaving out good players, is only positive. Everyone knows he is captain and when he is fit and ready he will be back. It is up to all of us now not to be complacent, score runs and that will improve England's performance as well."