England Cricket / Ralph Ellis / 23 October 2008 / 1

Going on tour is not just about packing the sun tan lotion. Betfair went to meet England batsman Alastair Cook for an exclusive chat and found him unloading a big box of cricket bats from his car.

Looks like you're planning to spend a long time at the crease this winter! How many bats do you need to take away?

It's extra this year because there's two black bats for the Stanford Series that won't be used after that - so I've got them plus four others for India and the West Indies

They look very slimline - not like some of the big clubs we've seen some players use.

I've always used light bats. These are the Gray-Nicholls Viper. It's the new one out this year so I'm hoping they will be good for me.

Light ones are for the artistic players, rather than the big sloggers, aren't they?

I don't know about that - but I've always preferred very light bats. Ronnie Irani always used a very heavy bat and he would swear by them, and kept telling me to try his. I'd pick it up and it was like a dead weight. I'd wonder how he could use it.

So do players try out other people's bats in the nets, then?

Yeah, we all pick up pretty much everybody else's bat to have a feel and a look at them, but I'm very well looked after at Grays so I'm cool with using theirs. You look at new models that are out, but in the end you have to use what's right for you.

Off to the West Indies this week then for the start of the winter's business. We're not at all jealous of that!! Is it one of your favourite places to tour?

I love it - the whole lifestyle of the Caribbean, the white beaches and the blue seas. I'm a massive fan of that! And they love their cricket there. It's in their blood. I can remember the first time I was lucky enough to go, I went and played a school tour out there, and they are not shy of shouting their advice from the boundary. It was a great experience. I'm really looking forward to touring again with England

You're known as a Test rather than a Twenty20 player and the signs are you might be on 12th man duties for the Stanford games. What do you think of Twenty20 cricket?

I actually think it's brilliant. I think it's turned the sport round. You think of Chelmsford with Essex for a fortnight and there's hardly anybody there, and then for a Twenty20 it's packed out and full of kids. It's great for the lads playing in it too.

Has it helped you invent shots?

I'm not as good as that. The way Kevin Pietersen hit that switch hit was amazing. But that's what the twenty over format is bringing out, because it's making better fielders, bowlers with more options, and batters who are finding more and more shots to play. That all makes the game more exciting.

Then comes the serious stuff in India, of course. There must be good memories for you as you made your debut and your first Test ton there.

Yeah, we're not going back to Nagpur where that happened but in terms of the overall experience it's a great place to play. The whole country just loves cricket. If you think of the passion for Premier League football over here, then it's that times five. I can't wait to see what the crowds will be like when there's 80,000 watching a one-day game. It's a great place to tour but a real hard place too, a real test of character.

So what sort of targets do you have for yourself this time? It must be different to the first time you went there when you were the new boy?

No, it's not much different on a personal level. You just want to score runs. You want to score hundreds, that's what your goals are, and it doesn't matter what or where you are playing. The idea is to go out for every match focused around scoring a hundred, and producing the match winning innings.

Have you been watching the Australian series on TV to do your homework?

Yes. There's been some really good cricket. You can't sit and watch the whole day because there's your own training to do still, but I've put it on, and also taped it, and watched the Indians bowling. You try to familiarise yourself with them, look at the things the likes of Ishant Sharma is doing with the ball, and get your mind around what the conditions will be like.

So what have you got to achieve as a team?

We've got a huge challenge this winter with first India and then back to the West Indies after Christmas. It sounds obvious but basically we just want to keep winning. Under Kevin I think we've won a single Test match and a one-day series, and we want to win the Tests and the one-day series in India. That's a tough enough challenge in itself. You can't just say you want to win it, you have to do something about it on the field. But what we did against South Africa, we want to carry that on, and work on our consistency. We know we can play as well as anybody on a given day, but the aim is to put more of those days together so we can build some momentum for next summer.

The last time we won the Ashes the team had gradually got better in the build-up. Do the players think there are signs it can happen again?

I hope so. I certainly agree that the success in the 2005 Ashes wasn't just a flash in the pan. It was built up. The team won games, and then whole series. We know we need to start building that same momentum this winter and make winning a habit.

You've just released your first book at the age of 23. What made you want to do that?

Ah - this is where I can get the plug in for "Starting Out: My Story So Far", published by Hodder and Stoughton price £19.99! Actually when the publishers asked me my first thought was that it was a bit soon. But I came to think: 'You spend your life in sport looking forward to things, and this could be a good time to recap and look back at the stuff I did when I was younger' It was actually interesting to do, to look at my music and stuff, and it's a been a good point of reference to stop and think about what I still want to achieve

We read that you started life as a St Paul's choirboy and could play all sorts of music. What's on your iPod now?

Everything. I don't care who sings it, I've got from Elton John to Razorlight and The Killers, to Snow Patrol. A whole range of things.

So do you sing along? In the book you talk about how your voice breaking ended your time as a choirboy. Are you up for Karaoke still?

I'm pretty bad, to be honest. I think I got worse at singing at the same rate I improved at cricket!

Okay so it's the Story so Far. What do you want the next book to be telling us about?

Oh, I don't know. First I hope I'm lucky enough to do another one because it would mean my career keeps going well. I'd love it to tell the tale of England winning the Ashes series next summer and then another one Down Under. That would be a pinnacle.

Thanks for your time, and we've a free £50 bet for your favourite charity.

Great. I'm president of the Young Lord's Taverners who do a massive amount of work trying to get access for as many people as possible, both disabled and able bodied, to be able to play sport. Last year they raised £2million to put Transits on the road to take people to facilities so they can play. I'm going to go for a big gamble. I'm a Colchester fan - I'll back them to beat Carlisle 3-1 this weekend and I hope I can get odds of about [21.0] or better matched for that.

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1. Paul | 01 November 2008

   Ralph

   Not sure he will be needing those black bats...

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