Essex left-hander Cook hit a determined 124 in nearly four hours at the crease but was the only England player to pass 50 as they declared on 290 for eight on the opening day of their three-day warm-up encounter at Edgbaston.

England lost five wickets for 77 runs and Warwickshire, without several members of their first-choice bowling attack, progressed to 31 for one by the close but Cook still believed it was a good workout ahead of next week's first Ashes Test.

"If this game wasn't on, Essex don't have first-class game this week, so I would've had no practice," explained Cook, who hit 21 boundaries in his innings.

"You can have as many throwdowns as you want, but being in the middle is far better practice. It is good to get together this week with such an important series coming up.

"Warwickshire were quite intense, but for them it's a great chance to play against England. A couple of performances from players, with the media attention, it pushes your name forward."

Despite England's struggles today, Cook believes the get-together over the last week - including the trip to First World War graves and battle sites in Belgium - has been useful as they prepare for next Wednesday's lift-off for the Ashes in Cardiff.

"The first hour of first day is crucial," said Cook. "In 2005 it was slightly different where we lost first match, but it is important.

"For the lads playing a lot of Twenty20 cricket, it's nice to get the rhythm back of four-day cricket where you don't feel guilty for leaving a ball or blocking an over. It's such a change of mindset, to relax and getting into a rhythm, and you can only do that by playing."

Cook also revealed that all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who was disciplined by England for missing the team bus during their trip to Belgium, had settled back into the team environment after apologising to the rest of the squad for the incident.

"It's been fine," added Cook. "He made a mistake, he said he's sorry, we look to move on as a team. It's nice that he is honest and you could see the regret in his face for what he's caused."