England will walk the talk, says captain Alastair Cook Rallying call: England captain Alastair Cook cut a lonely figure as he left the pitch in Adelaide. Having regained the verbal defiance conspicuously lacking in the aftermath of England's thrashing in Adelaide, visiting captain Alastair Cook is imploring his team to show in Perth they can play a good game as well as talk it. Cook conceded the challenge of reversing an awful start to the Ashes series on the WACA Ground, a place his country has won at only once in 12 attempts, was probably the greatest challenge he has faced since succeeding Andrew Strauss as captain, midway through last year. "Our confidence has obviously had a hit in the first two games ... but as a squad we've made a real conscious effort that we have to look forward into this game, rather than look back," Cook said on Thursday. We've talked a good game. It's about making sure we play a good game. Cook said he held no concerns over his squad's hunger to make amends for the defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide. The 28-year-old was typically coy about selection on the eve of the match, although on this occasion he was joined by his Australia counterpart Michael Clarke, who said the host would not reveal its team yet, for both fitness and tactical reasons. Cook argued the success of Mitchell Johnson so far in the series - he already has 17 wickets - was primarily due to poor selection. He said the way in which Joe Root and Kevin Pietersen played Johnson during their second-innings century partnership in Adelaide, provided a lesson on how to handle the hostile left-armer.