What we are looking for at Trent Bridge is a number of positives from England. We want Alastair Cook to score runs. He does not need a century but he must at least put some runs to his name and a score on the board in each innings.
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Above all else, we need to see an improvement in his captaincy. He has been under fire and criticised for his safety-first, Plan-A-only policy. We want to see some imagination. He probably feels that so many people are against him - that is why the England players are always coming out and supporting him because they feel he is under siege. He is only under fire because he is not performing with the bat and not getting a grip of the captaincy. It is no good him blaming other people, ex-players, the media or anyone else.
He has to grasp the game by the scruff of the neck and show he can be a leader. We cannot have any more games that just drift, because if he fails twice, and we lose to India, he should get the sack and the selectors need to move on.
We have not got time to mess about and worry about administrators at the England and Wales Cricket Board feeling embarrassed because it has sacked Kevin Pietersen and supported Cook. It is not about individuals, it is about the England team. It has only 10 Test matches before the next Ashes series and does not have time to worry about anyone's personal feelings.
Cook has to stand up to be counted, stop feeling sorry for himself or threatened and start making things happen. Once he does that everything else will fall into place. The team will improve, there will be a sigh of relief from the public who want him to do well, me included.
We do not want him to fail. We do not want him to be sacked. But we do want a world-class opening batsman scoring runs, and a leader we can be proud of. We cannot do it for him. He has to bloody well do it himself. It is simple.
Most of the public want to see him getting runs, the team being very positive and England win in four days because the way our sport has gone lately we need it. Andy Murray was poor at Wimbledon, the rugby team lost 3-0 to the All Blacks, and the football team was rubbish in Brazil. We can do with something to give us a feelgood factor, so come on Alastair, give it to us.
This series will come down to our seam bowling versus India's batting. Jimmy Anderson bowled poorly at Headingley. It is a ground where he traditionally does not have success but now he is at his favourite venue where he gets a bucketful of wickets. Jimmy needs to stand up and perform and he needs to bowl India out.
Telegraph, London
