South Africa opener Stephen Cook is a man under pressure, but he's acting as cool as a cucumber heading into the series-opening Test against Australia at the WACA Ground, starting on Thursday.
Cook has endured a disastrous start to the Australian summer, posting scores of just 5, 12, and 0 against second-string opposition in two tour matches.
At 33 and with just three Tests to his name, Cook's career could be brought to a swift end if he fails to fire during the upcoming three-Test series.
But the right-hander is adamant his recent run drought will become a distant memory once he steps out onto the WACA this week.
"I'm not too perturbed about that," Cook said of his recent poor form.
"In a couple of domestic games back home, things were pretty good. I felt like I've been in decent touch.
"Sometimes a lot gets read into practice games. I've played this game long enough to know there's no direct correlation between the two. It's a fresh slate for me."
Cook said it would be the highlight of his career if he could walk away from the Australian tour with a series win and a bag of runs under his belt.
And he needs to look no further than his teammate JP Duminy to realise just how momentous that feat would be.
Duminy posted an unbeaten 50 in his Test debut in 2008 to help South Africa clinch a famous win at the WACA.
In the next match, Duminy scored 166 to inspire South Africa to a series-clinching victory in the Boxing Day Test.
"This is an iconic series. It's been a series in which a lot of careers of both players and teams have been defined," Cook said of the rivalry with Australia.
"This is probably at the pinnacle of my career."
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