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The Queensland capital isn't a city to give the English team crucial hope for the Ashes

Following the loss to the Australian side in the first Test, England need to regroup before heading to the Gabba, a venue where victory has eluded England since 1986

Players representing England have frequently been easy prey at the Gabbatoir

A Shining Knight's Success

Throughout modern times of broken English hopes, aspirations and players is a source of inspiration provided by a shining knight

This marks a decade and a half after Alastair Cook conquered the Gabba with a career-defining 235 without loss, saving the first Test of 2010-11 paving England's path toward their sole series victory down under during recent memory

Unforgettable Series

This marked the start of Cook's triumphant circumnavigation of Australia; three hundreds accumulating 766 runs

Wally Hammond stands as the only Briton who has made more runs throughout a campaign on Australian soil

Victory came 3-1, with every win through innings victories

The team hasn't secured a Test victory there since those glory days

Cook's Memories

"You forget the challenging periods, the tension and worry that went into that," Cook recalls

"I look back with pride. I made an important impact in a tournament that saw England triumphed 3-1 on Australian soil where each victory came through innings wins"

Path to Success

Cook's road to down under success commenced well before following the 2009 series on home soil

Though England triumphed, the opener had an average below 25 managing only one innings above 50

He sought improvement

"Despite cricket's collective nature, personal performance creates the sensation like you want to pull your weight," he explains

Skill Development

Just 48 hours following the victory celebrations, he was back at work hitting hundreds and hundreds deliveries in practice under Graham Gooch's guidance

The initial results proved positive

He scored three hundreds on overseas campaigns to South Africa and Bangladesh

Crucial Turning Points

When Cook returned to British conditions during the 2010 season, Cook had a "stinker"

Across eight appearances against Bangladesh and Pakistan, his top innings reached only 29

On nought not out at the end of the second day's play during the final Test versus Pakistan in London, Cook was convinced it might be his concluding international appearance ahead of potential omission

"There I was at the bar, attempting to discover the resolution by drowning sorrows," he admits

The Turning Point

His century secured his place on the plane to Australia

England continued their preparations with two victories and one draw of their warm-up games down under

When the first Test arrived at the famous ground, they faced a Siddle hat-trick

Record-Breaking Stand

Just before the end of the third day, Cook and Strauss opened England's second innings needing to overcome 221 runs

The score stood at 19-0 at stumps then continued with an exhibition engraved in cricket memory

"My memory doesn't retain the messages, our conversations," says Cook

Both left-handed batsmen accumulated 188 runs together

The 235 without dismissal stood as the best performance achieved by a Briton in Australia since the 1930s

Series Dominance

England capitalised on an incredible start of the second Test at Adelaide

Following Anderson's additional wicket the opposition player, the score read 2-3 and couldn't recover

The batsman proceeded his Brisbane heroics by scoring 148 in a famous match featuring Pietersen's destruction of the Australian attack

Series Conclusion

Victory was possible the series in Western Australia, only for Mitchell Johnson to indicate the trouble he would cause four years later

Then came arguably England's best performance in Ashes history down under

At the MCG, the enormous ground of sports down under, on the holiday, the hosts collapsed to 98 all out

"For ideal Boxing Days, this was it. There was disbelief when play concluded," Cook remembers

Series Conclusion

Fuelled by the focus to claim victory, Cook was at it again in Sydney

His 189 lifted England to 644, their best score during Australian Tests

The uncertainty wasn't if victory would come both match and urn, but the timing

"The feeling was unbelievable," recalls Cook

"Following Tremlett's wicket of the final batsman to claim triumph, that was a time of complete happiness"

Historical Significance

The batsman received top accolades

The subsequent seven years of his Test career were illuminated by additional achievements

After retiring internationally, he received a knighthood for services to cricket

"{I couldn't have played any better|