ALASTAIR Cook warns England must wise up to a changed world if they are to regain some respect.
Cook will become the first Englishman to reach 150 Test caps when he tries to help Joe Root’s troubled Ashes tourists turn their series around in Perth this week.
But it is a stream of off-the-field, alcohol-related controversies which has placed England’s reputation most in jeopardy.
As their 32-year-old national-record runscorer seeks to arrest his worrying dip in form, he concedes the bar room backdrop to England’s two defeats so far owes its genesis to Ben Stokes’ arrest outside a Bristol nightclub back in September.
Cook knows that incident, awaiting resolution with Stokes still absent while police decide whether to charge him, has drastically altered public perception.
There will be no wriggle room at the WACA, as Root’s men bid to overturn almost 50 years of near unchecked failure at this venue, and Cook accepts there is none either whenever his team-mates venture out after dark these days.
“Those last two incidents have proven there is very little margin for error when you’ve had a beer.
“We’ve just got to smarten up, and we’ve got to do it quickly - because there’s too much at stake.”
It will of course be a special moment when he wins his landmark cap on Thursday.
“Not many people play 150 Test matches – so to do that, and at the top of the order, I’m quite proud.
“But my job ... is to try to get England off to a good start – and on this tour I have struggled.
“We’ve got the biggest game of our lives coming up and we’ve got to scrap unbelievably hard for the five days.
“I try my hardest all the time and I prepare as well as I can.
“It’s a special thing to walk out and play for England – and that’s why I love doing it.”
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