Later in the summer Pakistan toured England also.
In the first Test Cook was unimpressive, making scores of 8 and twelve, although England went on to win the match by 354 runs.
Cook's form did not improve in the next match where he made scores of 17 and four.
It took until the fifth Test of the summer and the third Test against Pakistan for Cook to pass 50, scoring 110 in a losing cause against Pakistan.
Before then, he had come in for much scrutiny, especially regarding his technique outside off-stump, and many considered his place to be under-threat.
His timely century secured his place for the last Test, although he only scored 10 in an innings win by England, further putting his place into question heading into the winter tour of Australia.

Although there were still concerns about Cook's form and technique ahead of the 2010-11 Ashes series, Cook answered his critics in the best way possible.
Following a century in one of the warm-up games, Cook opened his series account with 67 as England won the toss and batted at the Gabba in Brisbane.
After surrendering a first-innings deficit of 221, Cook fought back with fellow-opener Strauss and Jonathan Trott.
Strauss scored 110 as England scored 188 for the first wicket.
With this partnership, Cook and Strauss became England's highest scoring opening partners across their four years together, beating an eighty-year-old record set by Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe; albeit taking 44 more innings to do so.
Cook was joined by Trott and they scored an unbeaten partnership of 329; Cook recorded his first double-century in first-class cricket, finishing on 235 not out, and Trott scored 135 not out before England declared on 517–1.
Cook's 235* overtook Don Bradman's record score at the ground and several other records were set in that innings.

In the second Test at Adelaide, Cook scored another century, his 15th, which saw him match Bradman in scoring 15 centuries before his 26th birthday.
Cook broke Wally Hammond's record of runs scored without being out and Nasser Hussain's record of most minutes at the crease without being out, before being caught behind off an inside edge for 148 after over 1,000 minutes of being at the crease.

Cook, along with his teammates in a losing effort, performed poorly in the third Test but contributed to an innings victory in the fourth, becoming the series' leading run scorer after scoring 82.
In the fifth and final Test, Cook twice survived being given out by debutant Michael Beer, the first from a no ball and the second (at 99 runs) after the third umpire confirmed the onfield decision that the ball had not carried.
Eventually caught by Michael Hussey, his score of 189 saw him reach 5,000 Test runs in his career while in the series alone he amounted over 36 hours at the crease, a world record in a five Test series and an English record even including six Test series, as well as scoring 766 runs to become England's second highest series scorer behind 906 by Wally Hammond 80 years previous.
At the end of the final Test, Cook was presented with both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.
Later in the summer Pakistan toured England also. In the first Test Cook was unimpressive, making scores of 8 and twelve, although England went on to win the match by 354 runs. Cook's form did not improve in the next match where he made scores of 17 and four. It took until the fifth Test of the summer and the third Test against Pakistan for Cook to pass 50, scoring 110 in a losing cause against Pakistan. Before then, he had come in for much scrutiny, especially regarding his technique outside off-stump, and many considered his place to be under-threat. His timely century secured his place for the last Test, although he only scored 10 in an innings win by England, further putting his place into question heading into the winter tour of Australia.
Although there were still concerns about Cook's form and technique ahead of the 2010-11 Ashes series, Cook answered his critics in the best way possible. Following a century in one of the warm-up games, Cook opened his series account with 67 as England won the toss and batted at the Gabba in Brisbane. After surrendering a first-innings deficit of 221, Cook fought back with fellow-opener Strauss and Jonathan Trott. Strauss scored 110 as England scored 188 for the first wicket. With this partnership, Cook and Strauss became England's highest scoring opening partners across their four years together, beating an eighty-year-old record set by Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe; albeit taking 44 more innings to do so. Cook was joined by Trott and they scored an unbeaten partnership of 329; Cook recorded his first double-century in first-class cricket, finishing on 235 not out, and Trott scored 135 not out before England declared on 517–1. Cook's 235* overtook Don Bradman's record score at the ground and several other records were set in that innings.
In the second Test at Adelaide, Cook scored another century, his 15th, which saw him match Bradman in scoring 15 centuries before his 26th birthday. Cook broke Wally Hammond's record of runs scored without being out and Nasser Hussain's record of most minutes at the crease without being out, before being caught behind off an inside edge for 148 after over 1,000 minutes of being at the crease.
Cook, along with his teammates in a losing effort, performed poorly in the third Test but contributed to an innings victory in the fourth, becoming the series' leading run scorer after scoring 82. In the fifth and final Test, Cook twice survived being given out by debutant Michael Beer, the first from a no ball and the second (at 99 runs) after the third umpire confirmed the onfield decision that the ball had not carried. Eventually caught by Michael Hussey, his score of 189 saw him reach 5,000 Test runs in his career while in the series alone he amounted over 36 hours at the crease, a world record in a five Test series and an English record even including six Test series, as well as scoring 766 runs to become England's second highest series scorer behind 906 by Wally Hammond 80 years previous. At the end of the final Test, Cook was presented with both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.
Alastair Cook