Cook confident as Brisbane nears

Alastair Cook feels he has rediscovered his 'rhythm' at the crease after shaking off his poor form with a crisp second-innings hundred against South Australia.

Coming into the Ashes tour Cook was identified as England's possible weak link. A difficult summer against Bangladesh and Pakistan allied to an average of 26.21 from 10 Tests against Australia was enough for Mitchell Johnson to excitedly declare "there'll be a lot of pressure on him".

A pair of single-figure scores in England's first warm-up game against Western Australia ramped up the ante but after an unbeaten 111 at Adelaide, Cook heads into England's final match before the 1st Test, against Australia A at Hobart, full of confidence.

"It was great for me to spend so much time in the middle, especially that first innings for me - to get that tempo and rhythm back into your batting," he told reporters. Cook battled through 91 deliveries for his 32 in the first innings before edging behind chasing a wide delivery but was pleased to find things clicking into place after struggling at Perth.

"It's amazing how quickly that rhythm and tempo does come back to you," he said. But it does take that time in the middle to find it. Obviously, it didn't quite go to plan in Perth - so it was vital for me in this game to spend some time out there. In an ideal world, you'd obviously want to start as you mean to go on. But it was probably about two or two and a half months since I'd had a bat in a match.

"It's all right in nets, for picking the ball up. But trying to find the gaps in the middle is different, and that first innings was really important for me to find my feet. The runs look after themselves then."

His opening partner and captain, Andrew Strauss, has looked in fine form since arriving in Australia and followed his hundred against Western Australia with another fluent century at Adelaide, sharing a 181-run opening stand with Cook. After struggling with just a single half-century in England's disastrous Test tour four years ago, Strauss looks primed to improve his record and Cook thinks he, and the rest of the side, are in good shape as Brisbane nears.

"[Strauss] couldn't have gone much better - two hundreds in the first two games," said Cook. "He's looking in great nick, and all the guys really are playing well. As a squad, things have gone really well. Every batter has spent some time in the middle, and the bowlers have bowled well."

England meet Australia A on Wednesday and despite their strong start to the tour Cook was at pains to warn against complacency. "The big challenges are ahead of us, starting this week against Australia A. We mustn't get carried away with what we've done so far. It's great to see Straussy and Colly [Paul Collingwood] hitting the ball really well, but ultimately it doesn't count for too much before the first Test."