The Ashes may have been retained, but Alastair Cook is determined to get back into the habit of scoring big runs as England look to secure outright victory in the Investec Series by winning the fourth Test at Emirates Durham ICG.
Still only 28, the England captain already holds the accolade of being his country’s most prolific Test centurion and boasts over 10,000 runs in international cricket.
Yet, by his own stellar standards, Cook has had a lean time of things in the ongoing Test rubber, scoring 145 runs in six innings.
The left-handed opener has twice passed 50, at Trent Bridge and Emirates Old Trafford, and is remaining calm as he seeks five-day hundred number 26.
“At the top of the order your job is to score runs and it hasn’t quite gone as well as I would have liked in this series,” said Cook.
“(I have had) a couple of starts and (if) you convert those starts into bigger runs then it changes, but that hasn’t happened. I’ve been working hard on my game like I always do.
“What I do know is I’ve scored runs in the past and my Test career suggests that I do score runs. Hopefully it’s just a matter of time.”
While Cook is focussed on scoring runs, the make-up of England’s bowling attack in the north-east remains to be seen.
Durham seamer Graham Onions will be particularly keen to gain selection on his home ground and did his chances no harm by returning match figures of 9-102 against Middlesex when England were drawing the third Test at Emirates Old Trafford.
“Graham Onions has obviously done extremely well again this year in county cricket and he’s pushed his name right into the squad,” said Cook.
“When he was left out for a couple of games recently, he went back to Durham in four-day cricket and took a lot of wickets. So he’s doing everything we’ve been asking of him.”
There is no danger of England easing up even though the Ashes have been retained.
“In our eyes the series is still very much alive,” Cook stated.
“We’ve set out to win the series, not just retain the Ashes, and that’s the goal. We’ll try and pick the best XI, like we always do, to win this game.”
Australia's only major selection decision will concern whether seamer Jackson Bird is handed his Ashes debut.
With just a four-day turnaround from the Manchester Test the tourists will assess the fitness of their quicks before making a final call.
Should Bird win selection, Australia captain Michael Clarke has backed the Tasmanian, who won his two Test caps against Sri Lanka in the winter, to prove a handful on a pitch likely to suit his style.
“He's showed through his career back in Australia that he's had success in Hobart where the ball has moved around,” he said.
“But I think his statistics away from home are just as good and we've got some pretty flat wickets in Australia.
“This wicket is extremely dry. It might go up and down as the game goes on.
“If it is overcast I do know that in Durham the ball can swing and certainly seam. If he is given an opportunity I'm sure he'll find a way to have success in any conditions.”