pitch in

There was also a feeling a slow, low pitch in mild Canberra would not provide useful conditions in which to prepare for the heat of Brisbane and pace of the Gabba.

"After struggling the whole last summer, I was hungry for runs, and there's no better place to be hungry than a flat Adelaide pitch in 40-degree heat," says Cook.

For the past four years, pitches in this country have been rated as faster, bouncier and more inconsistent than anywhere else in the world.

With pitches in Australia tougher than ever and the refined Kookaburra seaming more, driving is fraught with far more danger these days.

Whether or not he pitches in the international tournament, however, remains unclear.