World Cup preparations now begin in earnest for England

The captain, one week on from completing the glorious transition of his Test summer from certain failure into resounding victory, has already confirmed he will have a new opening partner in Alex Hales – and previous incumbent Ian Bell will bat at No 3, weather permitting.

Yet in almost the same breath, Cook acknowledged the elevation of explosive short-format specialist Hales may yet be a mere watching brief – with the restoration of Bell, in time for the World Cup early next year, still a fallback option.

As for his own position, set in stone as England seek to avoid the untimely upheaval which has beset previous World Cup preparations, Cook insists the identity of his opening partner will entail no significant amendment to his methods.

As he approaches a five-match, late-summer home series – yet with the modified demands of an impending global tournament in Australia and New Zealand very much in mind too – he argues his brief remains a constant, irrespective of opening with Hales or Bell and their contrasting strike rates of almost 100 or 76.

“I don’t think it changes my role,” he said.

“The job of the top four or five is to try and score a hundred, and win the game by setting up the game.

“You have to try and do it in your way. I have got to convert starts into scores. That’s the job of an opener.

“When you win one-day matches, it’s a common theme one of the top four or five has scored a hundred.”

Cook has enhanced his own strike rate since his return to England’s 50-over team after the 2011 World Cup.

He said: “I still have to strike too – I can’t let Alex do all the scoring. Since I have come back into the side, my strike rate hasn’t been bad – it’s at over 80.”

Cook has no qualms about describing India as the likeliest winners over the next two weeks, despite their Test humbling and given their pedigree as World Cup and Champions Trophy holders, beating England in the Edgbaston final of the latter just last year.

“A change of format will obviously do them good,” added Cook. “It’s not quite the same groundhog day for them, probably. We’ve got to remember they’re world champions at 50 overs, so they obviously know what they’re doing and will probably go into this as favourites.”