Alastair Cook has been working on a new , more open stance with former England batting coach Graham Gooch over the past few months . But in the first Test against the West Indies , I think he overdid it . The picture below shows Cook playing against India at Lord 's in 2007 — when he was playing well — with a near perfect stance . His front foot is slightly open but not too far past the line of leg stump . Compare that to the other picture from last week , in which his front foot is far too open . It means that he has a long way to go to get to off stump , and he does n't have time to adjust to the delivery and set himself . Alastair Cook has been working on a new stance , but he appears to have overdone it against the West Indies . England head coach Peter Moores and Cook stand together during a nets session in Grenada on Monday . Cook prepares to play a shot during a training session at the Grenada National Stadium in St Georges . Cook plays a shot during a training session at the Grenada National Stadium in St Georges on Monday . In this scenario , because his front foot is still landing as the ball is halfway down , he is forced to play the shot with his hands away from his body , which is when you 're most likely to nick the ball to the wicketkeeper or slips . He 's clearly trying to open up his shoulders — perhaps he felt a bit closed off last summer — but he moved his front foot way too far against the West Indies and when you 're out of nick and under pressure , your movements become exaggerated . It 's important to note that in the second picture he has already started to move , making his footwork look worse than it is , but also that Cook has never been a brilliant front-foot player . He 's at his best when he gets his movements out of the way early , giving him time to move to the pitch of the ball and bend his front knee into the drive . Of course , when you 're in form you do n't think about these things . But this is the hardest thing to do . Cook 's greatest asset is his mental strength , and what he needs to do in matches is give himself 20 minutes to get settled . After a few boundaries it 'll all come naturally . Saying that , I saw him in the nets on Sunday and he looked bloody good ! So do n't write him off yet . Cook plays a shot during day one of the first test match between West Indies and England last week . Cook kicks out in frustration after being dismissed for 13 runs by a catch from Sulieman Benn on Wednesday .
former captain Alastair cook has been working on a new batting stance . His new stance has his front foot too far out without protecting the wicket . As a batsman , he does n't have time to adjust to the pace and pace himself . Cook probably preferred his new stance against the West Indies . Still , he should n't be written off just yet and impressed in practice .