England opener Alastair Cook says the tourists have shed the baggage of their horror second Test loss in Adelaide and are ready to bounce back strongly when the third Ashes Test starts here on Thursday.

Speaking here Monday, Cook dismissed suggestions of a splintered English camp after the first two Test defeats and said the they had derived great benefit from the two-day tour match against Western Australia on Saturday and Sunday at the WACA ground.

England captain Andrew Flintoff was rested from the game, but a number of other English players impressed including Cook, who made a century before retiring.

They are just one match away from handing the Ashes back, but the tall left-hander said the English still had plenty of fight in them.

"Obviously after Adelaide it was very disappointing and a devastating loss, but it's gone now," he said.

"We have got over it and we'll go in as confident as we can be.

"The two-day practice game was very good and a lot of people got a lot out of it.

"We can't sit around sulking anymore and we've got to come out again in Perth and fight again.

"Hopefully this time the result can be different. Cricket's a strange game and it can change very quickly, that's what we've got to believe."

A mere pup in his international cricket career but thrown in at the deep end at the top of the order following the departure of Marcus Trescothick, Cook admitted playing the Australians was another step up from his previous Tests against India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

"They do pose a challenge because they're the No.1 side in the world," he said.

"They've got some very good players and that is the challenge of beating Australia ... they keep coming at you.

"You notice it physically at the end of the day, you feel like you've been in a battle all day.

"They keep coming at you from the first ball to the last ball, it is more intense."

Cook has looked in good touch in the first two Ashes Tests, but has managed just 90 runs at 22.50.

He admitted the Australian tactic of coming around the wicket to him had caught him by surprise, but Cook said he had been working extensively on combating the

approach in the nets.

"It has been slightly different, but I've reacted to that and done a lot of practice on technique and studied it as well," he said.

"It's just a bit of practice on that and hopefully I should be okay.

"I have to make sure the alignment of the body and feet is the same for over and around the wicket.

"We get the net bowlers coming around the wicket and make sure the throw-downs are all from around the wicket for that extra bit of practice."

Cook made a double century for Essex against the Australians in 2005 and said he was certain he would make runs before the series was over.

"It was a practice game, but I know I can score runs against these guys and I know that I will score runs against them," he said.

"It was nice to score that 200 and hopefully I can take a little bit from that and take a hundred this week."

Cook said the English were sticking together, with the entire squad to attend an Elton John concert on Tuesday night.

"Despite what everyone seems to be seeing, there is good team spirit," he said.