Cook ready for Adelaide

Alastair Cook has revealed he has made his decision on the side that will feature in the second Ashes Test at Adelaide tomorrow.

Apart from Jonathan Trott, who has returned home to recover from a stress-related illness, Cook has all options available.

Ian Bell has recovered from a slight shoulder injury while Tim Bresnan has been declared fit and could make his first appearance of the series.

But Cook was keeping his cards close to his chest and will not reveal the line-up until the toss in the morning.

As well as deciding who will replace Jonathan Trott in the team and who will bat at number three, Cook has to decide whether to opt for one or two spinners on a wicket that could turn in the final days.

“It is a realistic option,” said Cook when asked about whether he could opt to bring in Monty Panesar alongside Graeme Swann.

"That's one of the skills you try and have as a captain and coach, senior players, to try to judge the state of the wicket.

"One of crucial things about home advantage is you know the wicket better than the opposition, so we have to use all experience to pick the right side.

“We're clear in our own mind (who we will pick).”

Whoever is asked to replace Trott will have a tough task on their hands. The Warwickshire batsman has nine hundreds and an average of 46.45 in his 49 Tests for England.

Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance and Ben Stokes are vying to replace Trott in the side, with one of Ian Bell or Joe Root expected to move up to three in the batting order.

Cook understands the pressure that will be on the new man in the side and wants the more experienced players in the team to step up in Trott’s absence.

"When you lose a player of Trotty's experience, it's impossible to fill straight away with a new guy starting his career or a guy with a lot fewer Test matches," said Cook.

"The senior guys have always got to stand up and deliver.

"Most of the time, you look at a lot of the Test victories or good wins, it's the senior players who lead it.

"These 10 days we've had off, we've been making sure we've been putting things in place, had some good meetings about it.

"But there's no point talking about a good game. We have to make sure we deliver a good game."

Should Bresnan be one of those players chosen to come into the team, Cook is more than confident that the Yorkshire seamer will deliver.

Cook added: "He's fully fit. He's come back amazingly well from his injury in his back.

"He played that last game for the EPP (a week ago), and came through that totally unscathed.

"He's ready and available for selection.

"One of his great skills is he does bowl a lot of overs in Test matches. He's done that in the past.

"If we decide to go (with) Bresy, he's ready to play."