The England squad continued to close ranks around Alastair Cook as they prepared for Wednesday’s crucial third one-day international against Sri Lanka. With the tourists 2-0 down in the seven-match series and Cook’s contribution a patchy 32 runs from 54 balls, the pressure is on the captain to perform a double rescue act: save his side – and save himself. And he will be telling himself that the two come as a package. Off-spinner James Tredwell became the latest player to loyally defend his skipper, describing Cook as ‘a class player’ and insisting: ‘I’m sure there is a score around the corner’. The pressure on England captain Alastair Cook continues to mount in Sri Lanka . But England off-spinner James Tredwell has leapt to his skipper's defence ahead of the third ODI . Cook was on the sweep during practice ahead of the clash with Sri Lanka in Hambantota . But that corner is in danger of looking more like a dead end. If England fail to win four of their last five games – a task that looks beyond them after they succumbed with alarming ease in Colombo on Saturday – they will have lost five bilateral one-day series in a row under Cook. A heavy series defeat in this series, plus the continuation of Cook’s personal drought – he has not passed 80 in one-day cricket since June 2012 – could leave the ECB hierarchy in an embarrassing position, especially with the captain understood to be desperate to turn things around. Between now and the start of the World Cup on February 14, England have a maximum of only 10 one-day internationals. National selector James Whitaker insisted two months ago that Cook would be captain at the World Cup. But even his closest allies are struggling to sustain a convincing defence. In the past few days Sir Ian Botham, Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen have all called for him to resign, though many feel Cook should have quit the format after leading a Test revival against India in the summer. Kevin Pietersen pleaded with Cook to resign after the humiliating second ODI defeat in Colombo . Ben Stokes (left) and Tredwell bowl during the session ahead of another one-day clash . Ian Bell chats to England coach Peter Moores during a net session on Monday afternoon . Eoin Morgan was one of the England batsman who struggled for runs on Saturday in Sri Lanka . Tredwell, though, was unconvinced that a crisis is brewing. ‘Everyone keeps going on about him, but we don’t really notice it in the dressing room,’ he said. ‘He’s pretty level-headed and calm about it.’ It might help if Cook’s obvious replacement within this tour party, Eoin Morgan, was on top of his game. But he is without a one-day half-century in 14 innings. For the moment, the magic has deserted him. Without it, England will have little chance of mounting a serious assault on the World Cup. ‘Whenever someone goes through a slump, it can become difficult,’ said Tredwell. ‘We all know what Eoin is like. He is a very astute person and he’s working very hard. ‘It is frustrating for everyone really. We’re all working as hard as we can on our skills and when things don’t go right it is not a nice feeling. ‘Maybe some of our skills are not up to scratch and that is what we’re trying to put right. If we get everything right in the same game we’re going to hurt people.’ The worry is that England – already missing the injured Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad – lack the all-round quality to compete with a Sri Lankan side who have got their recent 5-0 hammering in India out of their system. They may not even be too inconvenienced by Mahela Jayawardene’s withdrawal from the third one-day international for personal reasons . Attempts have been made to rationalise the two defeats in Colombo. England admit they bowled badly in allowing Sri Lanka to post 317 in the series opener, and Cook said he had been wrong to bat first in the second game on Saturday. But these are details, and there is no mistaking the bigger picture. Here, amid the dense vegetation of Sri Lanka’s south coast, it feels easy to go missing in the jungle. England’s one-day team needs to find itself again – and fast.
James Tredwell backs Alastair Cook to turn England fortunes around .
England are two-nil down in the ODI series against Sri Lanka .
Cook has struggled for runs at the top of the order for the last year .
The England squad continued to close ranks around Alastair Cook as they prepared for Wednesday’s crucial third one-day international against Sri Lanka. With the tourists 2-0 down in the seven-match series and Cook’s contribution a patchy 32 runs from 54 balls, the pressure is on the captain to perform a double rescue act: save his side – and save himself. And he will be telling himself that the two come as a package. Off-spinner James Tredwell became the latest player to loyally defend his skipper, describing Cook as ‘a class player’ and insisting: ‘I’m sure there is a score around the corner’. The pressure on England captain Alastair Cook continues to mount in Sri Lanka . But England off-spinner James Tredwell has leapt to his skipper's defence ahead of the third ODI . Cook was on the sweep during practice ahead of the clash with Sri Lanka in Hambantota . But that corner is in danger of looking more like a dead end. If England fail to win four of their last five games – a task that looks beyond them after they succumbed with alarming ease in Colombo on Saturday – they will have lost five bilateral one-day series in a row under Cook. A heavy series defeat in this series, plus the continuation of Cook’s personal drought – he has not passed 80 in one-day cricket since June 2012 – could leave the ECB hierarchy in an embarrassing position, especially with the captain understood to be desperate to turn things around. Between now and the start of the World Cup on February 14, England have a maximum of only 10 one-day internationals. National selector James Whitaker insisted two months ago that Cook would be captain at the World Cup. But even his closest allies are struggling to sustain a convincing defence. In the past few days Sir Ian Botham, Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen have all called for him to resign, though many feel Cook should have quit the format after leading a Test revival against India in the summer. Kevin Pietersen pleaded with Cook to resign after the humiliating second ODI defeat in Colombo . Ben Stokes (left) and Tredwell bowl during the session ahead of another one-day clash . Ian Bell chats to England coach Peter Moores during a net session on Monday afternoon . Eoin Morgan was one of the England batsman who struggled for runs on Saturday in Sri Lanka . Tredwell, though, was unconvinced that a crisis is brewing. ‘Everyone keeps going on about him, but we don’t really notice it in the dressing room,’ he said. ‘He’s pretty level-headed and calm about it.’ It might help if Cook’s obvious replacement within this tour party, Eoin Morgan, was on top of his game. But he is without a one-day half-century in 14 innings. For the moment, the magic has deserted him. Without it, England will have little chance of mounting a serious assault on the World Cup. ‘Whenever someone goes through a slump, it can become difficult,’ said Tredwell. ‘We all know what Eoin is like. He is a very astute person and he’s working very hard. ‘It is frustrating for everyone really. We’re all working as hard as we can on our skills and when things don’t go right it is not a nice feeling. ‘Maybe some of our skills are not up to scratch and that is what we’re trying to put right. If we get everything right in the same game we’re going to hurt people.’ The worry is that England – already missing the injured Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad – lack the all-round quality to compete with a Sri Lankan side who have got their recent 5-0 hammering in India out of their system. They may not even be too inconvenienced by Mahela Jayawardene’s withdrawal from the third one-day international for personal reasons . Attempts have been made to rationalise the two defeats in Colombo. England admit they bowled badly in allowing Sri Lanka to post 317 in the series opener, and Cook said he had been wrong to bat first in the second game on Saturday. But these are details, and there is no mistaking the bigger picture. Here, amid the dense vegetation of Sri Lanka’s south coast, it feels easy to go missing in the jungle. England’s one-day team needs to find itself again – and fast.
crucial third one-day international against Sri Lanka. With the tourists 2-0 down in the on England captain Alastair Cook continues to James Tredwell has leapt to his skipper's defence of the England batsman who struggled for runs on allowing Sri Lanka to post 317 in the series