Gabba challenge excites Cook

After 24 days of their Australia campaign, England's cricketers arrived at the Gabba for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, and set about the task of visualising every aspect of the challenge that lies ahead of them in the coming days and weeks. With its imposing stands and cavernous atmosphere, the Gabba can be every bit as daunting as the 22-year unbeaten record that Australia boast at the ground. But according to Alastair Cook, the prospect of making history is over-riding all other emotions within the squad.

England were soundly thrashed on their last two visits to the Gabba, in 2002-03 and again four years ago at the start of their infamous whitewash tour, and their last victory came in the opening match of their triumphant trip in 1986-87, when Ian Botham rolled back the years with his 14th and final Test century, a rollicking 138 that set the tone for the series. Without predicting a repeat of such fireworks, Cook was adamant that they would continue playing with the liberated mindsets that have characterised the early weeks of this latest tour.

"Everything is really good in the camp," said Cook. "What's gone before doesn't count for anything, but the Test series is why we're here, and we were very excited walking into the stadium. I walked in with Broady [Stuart Broad] and Swanny [Graeme Swann], who hadn't been here before, and they had massive smiles on their faces while looking around. As an English player coming to play the Ashes in Australia, this is a very exciting place to be at the moment."

The unmistakeable buzz in the England camp is a far cry from the emotions that dominated on their last trip to the Gabba four years ago. Cook was one of six members of England's likely starting XI who played in that opening fixture, but his scores of 11 and 43 paled in comparison to the mighty 196 with which Ricky Ponting set up Australia's 277-run victory. Nevertheless, he feels that the lessons learned from that trouncing will stand the side in good stead this time around.

"I'd played nine Tests then, I've got 60 under my belt now, so I've experienced the highs and the lows, and I've seen a lot more cricket," said Cook. "I feel as though I'm more complete and understand what I have to do to score runs, but obviously the challenge of having that experience is using it in the right way.

"It's nice walking into the ground knowing what it looks like, but again the excitement for Swanny and Broady is all about the unexpected. Australia have a great record here but it's another challenge we have to overcome and that excites us. We have a chance to do something very special.

"It will be exciting and nervewracking on the bus journey to the ground, because it's obviously a big series, but we've talked about not getting too emotional about how we play. We just want all our focus to be on our cricket skills, whether we bowl, or are in the field, or we bat. We need to try to take the emotion out. It will be there, but we're all experienced players and we'll have to handle it again."

Cook's personal form worries were lifted as soon as he scored a cathartic century in England's second warm-up game in Adelaide, and while he insisted that all such warm-up runs would count for nothing once the real action gets underway, the wider sense of contentment permeating the squad is invaluable. "We set our goals at the beginning of that three-week period," he said, "and to win two games out of three was very important."

Cook knows he still has a point to prove against Australia, however, given that he averages 26.21 in ten Tests against them, compared to an overall Test average of 42.78. "I can't hide behind the facts of that statistic but it doesn't bring any more pressure to it," he said. "There's enough already just walking out to open for England in an Ashes series. I'm looking forward to getting those runs behind me, and improving my record against Australia."

A green and bouncy surface is in prospect after a summer of uncharacteristic rainfall, and Australia's quickest bowler, Mitchell Johnson, has already declared his intention to test England's openers, not least the captain Andrew Strauss, with a diet of short balls. Cook, however, insisted he was unfazed at the prospect, adding that England have had plenty practice on lively wickets in recent times.

"It's an area we've discussed," he said. "The wicket was quite quick two days ago [in a Twenty20 match at the Gabba], and we practised in Perth for a week and a half, thinking the conditions would be quite similar. But we've got a good record against genuine quick bowling, we done it before and our experience as a side is that we are happy with that. If they come hard at us, they come hard at us. We've got a good record at Old Trafford which is a quick wicket as well, and we've got players who can play the pace and the bounce well."

Despite the hype that has been building up all month, Cook made sure he adhered to the team ethic, laid out by the coach Andy Flower, by refusing to overstate the significance of the series. "It's the toughest challenge because it's the next challenge we've got," he said. "We're looking forward rather than looking back all the time, we always want to set new goals and create new history, and this is what the next challenge is.

"Australia are a hugely competitive side every time they play, and with England coming in probably the biggest Test series there is, they don't need any more motivation. They've got a great record here, they are going to be very proud of that, and it's up to us to out-compete them over the next two months."

Five of England's top six toured Australia four years ago, but only one of the frontline bowlers made that trip, and that man, James Anderson, did not enjoy the happiest of tours. Nevertheless, Cook insisted that every member of the team had the capability to rise to the occasion, regardless of whether they'd had prior experience of the conditions.

"We've got 11 players who can win games of cricket for England," he said. "Swanny's been exceptional in the last 12 months, but he's also been backed up by the three quicks and we've managed to score the runs as well. I think what's happened with this England side over the last 12 months is that everyone's stood up to be counted in certain situations. And we're going to need that over the next two months."