Nick Knight: Alastair Cook is a resilient character who has battled back before but he must be less predictable

EXCLUSIVE COLUMN: Cook can return to his best and England need a specialist spinner, like James Tredwell

Should Alastair Cook be back in the side after his one-match ban? There are cases for and against.

In his favour he has been captain for three years and you could say it’s too late to be changing leadership just ahead of the World Cup, which starts in February.

He has a good average for one-day international cricket, 37.07 in 89 matches with a decent strike-rate of 77.36. The conditions in Australia and New Zealand, where the World Cup will be held, will suit him with more pace in the pitch than there is here in Sri Lanka.

Alastair is a very resilient character who has battled back from poor form many times before.

Cook is averaging just 28.20 in his last 11 ODIs (AFP/Getty)

The case against him begins with his recent poor form: in his last 11 ODIs he is averaging 28.20 at a strike-rate of 65.42.

Then there is the team’s record under his leadership: if they lose this series, it will be seven series lost out of the last nine. There is a good alternative as captain in Eoin Morgan, and there is pressure on his position as opener too, from a more dynamic player in Alex Hales – a young talent whom he may well be keeping out of the side.

My own view on Alastair as a one-day batsman is that there is no reason why he cannot score good runs at the top of the order, as he has proved in the past. At his best he hits bad balls for boundaries and can score off good balls. He has also improved against spin.

However, he is what I would call a very static batsman, who bowlers may not feel threatened by. I feel that you should judge yourself as an opener in this format by how effective you are at scoring off the good balls – after all, that is what you generally get at this level. Because he is so static and reluctant to leave the crease, it makes it harder for Alastair to dominate good bowlers.

He needs to become more unpredictable. The levels of expectation have risen dramatically with the spread of Twenty20 and therefore batting line-ups have to chase down scores of 320-plus more regularly. If a batsman gets a hundred now it will need to be off around 100 balls or less rather than 140 balls, and that would represent a great challenge for Alastair.

Cook has, of course, proved he can be one of the best in the world in the past (Getty Images)

I would open the batting with Hales and Moeen Ali. In Alastair England have a good man, a respected and admired leader, but he will know more than anyone that he doesn’t just need runs but runs scored with authority and conviction if he wants to maintain his position in the side.

In Tests you can bat for a long time and score “ugly runs” to find form; that’s not the case in this format.

I expect England will back their captain. It has proved to be a wise decision in the past. Time will tell if it’s wise now.

Spinner Tredwell can give the team a better balance

There are three games to go in this series and England have to stop experimenting and pick their best XI.

After the Cook dilemma, the remaining issue to be decided is the balance of the side. For example, should the selectors include James Tredwell as a specialist spinner?

England need a specialist spinner, like James Tredwell (right)

At the moment Moeen is operating as the senior spinner, while Joe Root is filling in with a few overs. Tredwell has plenty of experience: he has played 41 ODIs and has an economy rate of 4.8 runs per over.

The off-spinner has shown himself to be calm under pressure and he varies his pace well so that he doesn’t always need turning pitches to have success. Most of all he is reliable, which is exactly what this team needs.

The problem is that he is a one-dimensional cricketer, who will probably bat at No 10 and isn’t dynamic in the field.

All things considered, if England are picking the best five bowlers that are available to them now then he must play. Tredwell also needs an opportunity to force his way into a World Cup bowling line-up which will probably include Anderson, Broad, Finn, Ali and either Woakes or Jordan.