If Alastair Cook fails one more time, then selectors must drop him

The squad for next week's Test at The Brit Insurance Oval will be announced on Sunday morning by the national selector Geoff Miller and unless he has a dramatic change of habit, he will talk about "keeping faith", "momentum" and of a "winning team". I will be very surprised indeed if Cook's name is missing from the list.

Had we been talking about a No6 batsman, it might be different. That is usually the position to which new players are introduced and often the place that struggling batsmen are relegated to before the axe. But an opener is different. Having a settled partnership at the top of the order is one of the most pressing issues the selectors have to address, almost before everything else.

You need experience and confidence from your openers as they go out and take on everything the opposition can throw at them. Dropping one of them is unsettling for the team and should only be done when his form really has deserted him. Given that Cook has played two matches against Pakistan in such bowler-friendly conditions, I believe England will give him one more match, on a flat pitch at The Oval, to come good. But if he fails next week, Cook will have to make way.

There is talk of Jonathan Trott moving up to open in his place but that would be very risky and, again, something the naturally cautious Miller would steer away from. Trott has looked calm and secure at No3 — despite having to come in almost immediately given Cook's poor run — and, again, this is a key position. Some pundits — including the former captain Michael Vaughan — would like to see Kevin Pietersen promoted to three but he is also low in confidence and has made it clear he would prefer to stay at No4.

Again, that suggests Cook will be given every opportunity before the decision is taken to replace him — with all the ramifications that would have for the Ashes this winter.

Cook's problem is his footwork, which has never been tight even when he is batting well. As soon as the ball swings around, he finds himself trapped in his crease, neither on the front foot nor back which leaves him terribly vulnerable. His dismissal in the second innings at Edgbaston, when he was bowled by Mohammad Aamer, was a classic illustration of this. The manner in which Cook reacted suggested that the good length ball had kept low. But it was his position that was at fault.

Cook will have the chance, along with his England colleagues, to free his arms on the Twenty20 Finals day at the Rose Bowl on Saturday and this might do him good. Playing shots, and hitting fours, can often liberate a struggling batsman as he suddenly finds his touch and his confidence can come rushing back. Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad will also turn out for Nottinghamshire, which makes one feel rather sorry for the two regulars they will depose on the big day but Hampshire have once again decided not to choose Pietersen.

He simply must find a county prepared to take him on but this will only happen if he at least sounds as if he values its importance and is not merely a convenience.