England's tour of the antipodes continued with the tour of New Zealand and Cook made a great start in the warm up matches, making a half century followed by an unbeaten 138 the following day in limited overs matches.
His style was still considered too slow for the following two Twenty20 Internationals and he failed to continue his form in the first ODI where he fell for 11 as part of an England collapse.
The second match saw a similar collapse by England where Cook's 52 was the only real contribution until he was run out by fellow Essexian Ravi Bopara.
The fourth one day match saw Cook and Phil Mustard prop up the innings with an opening stand of 158 before both being dismissed in successive balls, leading to a tied match.

Although normally known for his slow but focussed repose with the bat, the first Test against New Zealand gave Cook a chance making three sharp catches in the first innings and mirroring his efforts with three even more spectacular catches in the second innings, the first two off Ryan Sidebottom who then went on to make a hat-trick with a final LBW, the match itself saw England collapse in the second innings for 110 with Cook being the only other player besides Ian Bell to make it into double figures.
Incidentally, Cook's other catch in the second innings was also off Sidebottom to dismiss New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, a feat the pair reproduced in the second innings of the second Test and again in the first innings of the third Test.
His batting meanwhile began its long road of decline scoring no more than sixty in the two Tests and falling for only two runs in the final match, though in the second Test he did secure another English record being the youngest Englishman at just over 23 years, to score 2,000 Test runs – again eclipsing Gower; two days later he recorded his first Test six after 2047 runs, including 233 boundaries, after an accidental top edge and ruined his chances of beating Vijay Manjrekar's 2,308 record.

Back home in England Cook failed to reproduce his legacy of Lord's centuries.
Scoring 61 in the only England innings of the first Test which was his only score over fifty from the four innings in England's successful series.

His poor form in the long format led to him being omitted for the Twenty20 series and all but the final one-day match.

With a year to go before the 2009 Ashes, it was imperative for Cook to cement his position as opener in the home series against South Africa.
Again, at Lord's, Cook made his way comfortably to a half-century before being dismissed for 60.
A high team score, together with a benevolent wicket, saw the fifth day bring Cook's first Test over as a bowler: he conceded just one run.
 Cook fell in one innings of each Test between fifty and a hundred, amassing the considerable average of 47 for the series.

Once again Cook found himself omitted from the Twenty20 and one-day team both for the home series against South Africa as well as the majority of the away series in India, where a string of poor England performances saw him called up for the fifth and ultimately the final match after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
 When the Tests arrived, Cook continued to notch a half-century in one innings of each match, but was outshone by opening partner Strauss's centuries.
England's tour of the antipodes continued with the tour of New Zealand and Cook made a great start in the warm up matches, making a half century followed by an unbeaten 138 the following day in limited overs matches. His style was still considered too slow for the following two Twenty20 Internationals and he failed to continue his form in the first ODI where he fell for 11 as part of an England collapse. The second match saw a similar collapse by England where Cook's 52 was the only real contribution until he was run out by fellow Essexian Ravi Bopara. The fourth one day match saw Cook and Phil Mustard prop up the innings with an opening stand of 158 before both being dismissed in successive balls, leading to a tied match.
Although normally known for his slow but focussed repose with the bat, the first Test against New Zealand gave Cook a chance making three sharp catches in the first innings and mirroring his efforts with three even more spectacular catches in the second innings, the first two off Ryan Sidebottom who then went on to make a hat-trick with a final LBW, the match itself saw England collapse in the second innings for 110 with Cook being the only other player besides Ian Bell to make it into double figures. Incidentally, Cook's other catch in the second innings was also off Sidebottom to dismiss New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, a feat the pair reproduced in the second innings of the second Test and again in the first innings of the third Test. His batting meanwhile began its long road of decline scoring no more than sixty in the two Tests and falling for only two runs in the final match, though in the second Test he did secure another English record being the youngest Englishman at just over 23 years, to score 2,000 Test runs – again eclipsing Gower; two days later he recorded his first Test six after 2047 runs, including 233 boundaries, after an accidental top edge and ruined his chances of beating Vijay Manjrekar's 2,308 record.
Back home in England Cook failed to reproduce his legacy of Lord's centuries. Scoring 61 in the only England innings of the first Test which was his only score over fifty from the four innings in England's successful series.
His poor form in the long format led to him being omitted for the Twenty20 series and all but the final one-day match.
With a year to go before the 2009 Ashes, it was imperative for Cook to cement his position as opener in the home series against South Africa. Again, at Lord's, Cook made his way comfortably to a half-century before being dismissed for 60. A high team score, together with a benevolent wicket, saw the fifth day bring Cook's first Test over as a bowler: he conceded just one run.  Cook fell in one innings of each Test between fifty and a hundred, amassing the considerable average of 47 for the series.
Once again Cook found himself omitted from the Twenty20 and one-day team both for the home series against South Africa as well as the majority of the away series in India, where a string of poor England performances saw him called up for the fifth and ultimately the final match after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.  When the Tests arrived, Cook continued to notch a half-century in one innings of each match, but was outshone by opening partner Strauss's centuries.
Alastair Cook