Saturday 17 March 2018 20:21, UK
Alastair Cook has admitted to doubting his England future, but says his unbeaten double hundred in the Melbourne Test during the Ashes shows he has still "got it".
The former England captain is likely to play in his 153rd Test when England begin their two-Test series against New Zealand on Thursday, live on Sky Sports.
Cook's huge innings in Melbourne ended a run of poor form - he had gone 10 innings without passing 50 since scoring 243 against West Indies in August 2017.
Cook's efforts in Melbourne could not prevent a 4-0 Ashes defeat for England, but looking back at his haul, he said: "To bat as badly as I did for two months, and then for 10 hours bat as well as I've ever done, is quite strange.
"It shows I have got it. To be able to bat like that, you've got to be doing the right stuff mentally and still be on it.
"I batted like I did when it was as hard as it could be mentally - because you're thinking: 'If I get another couple of low scores, things are really going to get tough for me'.
"To keep going like that and then deliver shows you have something."
Cook passed 12,00 Test runs in his most recent innings - the final Ashes Test in Sydney - although he scored just 25 during England's tour match against a New Zealand XI on Friday.
The 33-year-old admitted that his previous bad form led to him having doubts over his international future, saying: "There were moments when it was tough.
"You question yourself - 'am I still good enough to play at the real elite level?' Not that the hunger has run out, but is it all worth it?
"It is an easy story to write when a slightly older player isn't scoring runs - 'is he going to give up? Is he thinking about it?'
"When you keep piling the effort in and you're not doing very well for two months in a big series, you start doubting yourself."
Watch England take on New Zealand in the first of two Test matches live on Sky Sports Cricket from 12am on Thursday, March 22.
