Time running out for Cook and England as Ashes series looms

The second cricket Test between England and the West Indies starts today in Grenada and for England captain Alastair Cook it will be another ordeal by fire.

Criticised for his batting and his captaincy in the first Test last week in Antigua, Cook knows that the pressure will only increase if he and England fail to impress against the Windies over the course of the next five days.

As Michael Atherton, one of his predecessors, understands the pressure and notes in The Times: "The scrutiny never goes away." He adds that Cook and coach Peter Moores "have a fortnight to state their case unequivocally" for remaining in their posts for the summer series against New Zealand and Australia.

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As a batsman, Atherton – who opened the batting for England in 115 Tests between 1989 and 2001 – was never as naturally gifted as Cook, but what the Lancastrian had in spades was the mental strength to bat his way back into form.

It's now 697 days since Cook last made a Test century and more than two years since he captained England to a Test match victory away from home. Both statistics are woeful but they could all change in the next few days, although question marks over Cook's captaincy skills, which have plagued him for much of the past year, are likely to remain unanswered until the New Zealanders arrive in England next month.

In the short term, however, the Essex batsman needs to rediscover his touch at the crease because in the last 14 months he has averaged just 29 in 17 internationals. And Cook knows that England can be ruthless. He was stripped of the one-day captaincy and discarded from the squad on the eve of the recent World Cup - not that it did the team much good.

In the first Test in Antigua Cook fell to two full-length deliveries, so often his undoing in the last two years. When he emerged onto the Test scene in 2006, Cook was a run machine, becoming the second-youngest batsman to reach 5,000 Test runs behind the great Sachin Tendulkar. But, writes Atherton, "the word has got around... that bowlers have worked him out" and the full-length delivery outside off stump is the ball to bowl to Cook. The statistics bear this out, but all the same, says Atherton "rarely in sport... does it pay to dismiss too readily a proven performer".

Form is temporary, class is permanent goes the cliche, but time is running out for Cook to prove the old adage with a mediocre England team not in a position to carry passengers for what will be a challenging Ashes series.

"I'm desperate to set the tone well at the top of the order," said Cook on Monday. When asked if he'd made any changes to his technique in an attempt to iron out the flaw in his batting he said: "I did have a look back in early February, watched a little a bit and it has changed quite a lot."

Another England skipper, Michael Vaughan said he had noticed an improvement in Cook's footwork during the first Test, but his praise was shortlived as Cook was out very next ball.

Cook himself says he is not worried about his technique. "The most important thing is that when you're out in the middle you're not concentrating too much on technique, you're concentrating on what is important - that ball coming down to you in the situation and conditions you're in."

Cook added that his "game has improved over time", a statement not borne out by the stats and words that will come back to haunt him if he fails again in Grenada.