There will be calls for England to get rid of Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott on the back of their failures here but I think they should both play all three Tests against West Indies before any sort of decision is made. We are talking about two batsmen with phenomenal Test records who have done it against Australia in the past and, with good players like that, you do not jettison them easily. Cook, for instance, will end up with one of the greatest of all England records and you have to give people of that calibre every possible chance to show they are worth a place. Jonathan Trott (left) and Alastair Cook head out to open England's second innings against West Indies . Trott walks past Cook after he was dismissed for just four runs by Jerome Taylor on day three . I said after the first day of this Test that England’s top order was a bit one-paced which could be an issue but that does not mean I think they should be dropped unless there is conclusive evidence they are in decline. England’s new opening pair have very different issues. Trott will have played all sorts of mind games with himself ahead of this game, telling himself to enjoy it and trying to forget how people perceive him after leaving Australia. He will have desperately tried not to build this Test up too much but, once out in the middle, he will have known how important it is. You could see how frenetic he was and how much he was moving at the crease. When you are nervous and desperate to do well your movements can become exaggerated as emotion takes hold. He has got to tell himself to stay still at the crease. The Trott I remember was almost Jacques Kallis-like in how still he was. If it were not for his scratching around you wouldn’t notice him. The Trott I remember would get to 70 before you knew it and we can’t judge his comeback on a Test where he has received good deliveries in both innings. Trott was making his first Test appearance for England in 18 months against the West Indies . He has to tell himself to calm down, stay still and chill a bit at the crease and it will be hard because the Duke ball is swinging and he is not accustomed to being an opener. He has been at three his whole career. If he does not make runs in the next two Tests and England are convinced he won’t be able to become the player he was then that is the time to have a look at someone else. Not now. The captain, in contrast, has a technical issue. Cook is mentally one of the strongest cricketers England have ever produced, an incredible fighter and an incredible bloke who has such a burning desire to prove people wrong. Trott leaves the field in Antigua following his poor showing on day three of the first Test . Yes, form is a concern — he hasn’t scored an international century in two years but this is a man who reached 25 Test hundreds in record time. And it is true to say he has been found out. Cook based his game around three shots — the cut, the pull and clip off the hip — and he would get lots of runs. Now opponents are bowling at him in the areas he doesn’t want them to and he has a problem when the ball is moving. But the swinging ball is not a new phenomenon, especially to an opener brought up in England, and Cook has to score runs against the moving ball now if he is going to prolong his Test career. Trott was very much in the mould of South Africa batsman Jacques Kallis (above) when he was on form . Cook has now gone 61 combined Test and ODI innings without making a century . West Indies will be very disciplined for an hour but their third seamer is Jason Holder. This is not Australia. If Cook can just sit in, be a bit more disciplined outside off stump and see off that new ball then the run-making opportunities will come. Bowlers will get bored before he does. It is not that he cannot score when the ball is pitched up. You don’t score 8,423 Test runs without being able to play off the front foot. Of course he can. But in his first 10 or 15 minutes he is pushing too hard at the ball rather than letting it come to him. These are both exceptional players and you are always a better player when you are out of a side. It takes a long time to make a Test player —don’t discard them until you are absolutely sure the time is right.
Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott have both struggled with the bat.
Trott looked nervous while his movement was erratic.
Cook hasn't scored an international century in two years.