England vs South Africa 2017: 5 players to watch out for in the Test series

#2 Alastair Cook (England)

In fine form

On the other side of the coin is Alastair Cook who has given up captaincy and will now walk out to open the innings without the burden of captaincy and this could free him up.

The southpaw has been in brilliant form with the bat in the domestic set-up (667 runs in 7 matches) and looks to be in the groove and if he decides to put his head down, it could well mean that the South African bowlers and fielders would be sent on a leather hunt.

There is no doubting the potential of Cook, but over the last season he seemed to be weighed down with expectations and as a result runs seemed to dry up. However, there is no such pressure now and the Essex man could now start scoring runs for fun, all over again.