A fortnight ago, the mean idea that both were immediately dispensable drifted through the travelling circus which follows the England cricket team around the world. Atherton, it was said, was not upbeat enough to lead an inadequate team; Cork it was said, was too upbeat for his own good. Such ideas do not emerge out of the blue, they come from hours of living in each others pockets which leads to intense examination, from so much air time and print space to fill and from the ever increasing importance of sport in the world.
Because Atherton is not theatrical his leadership appears to lack inspiration, because he would not choose the probe of the public eye or compromise himself to win its favour his image is cheerless and sometimes charmless. Because Cork is a show-off his antics are made to look foolish when his play is not on form, because he so loves the public eye his image is upfront for all to see and equally upfront for all to knock down.
During the last fortnight I have begun to wonder myself if Atherton needed a break from the excessive demands of his job. His obstinance appeared to be getting the better of him, his insistence that his team's cricket was fine in the five-day game seemed ill-judged and his batting had lost its way. A fresh face, unblemished by the strain of recent disappointment, seemed to be required to lift us all from the doldrum of unsatisfactory performance.
Not so, not for the moment at least, because Atherton is back to his very best as a batsman and smiling, just a little at least, for the media and the masses. He is pretty good at these aftermatch inquisitions (and pretty awful at the pre-match stuff being no good with cocktail chat) giving rational cricket explanations and ensuring that he does not bow to hype. He knows that beating New Zealand is the minimum requirement and that the Australian, West Indian and South African series which follow soon will test his team to the core but he has stuck by his view that the team are on the right road and is now justified in having done so.
The key to Atherton's batting is his footwork, the alignment of his shoulders and the position of his hands. Out of form, he gets stuck in the crease, square on in defence and lets his hands play at the ball a foot or so from his body.
In form, as he truly was in this match, he pulls and hooks with thunderous results because he springs back so quickly into the ideal position to control the stroke. He defends from close to his body by making the bowler come to him rather than allowing himself to be dragged outside his off stump. Most revealing of all perhaps is the purity of his cover driving which is based on a strong lead towards the line of the ball with a bent left leg and which gives him the curled shape, eyes over the ball, that is his trademark.
ALL of this, and more, was on show during the 758 minutes that he was at the crease while scoring the 212 runs for once out which brought England the match. He is some stubborn fellow for it seems barely a day since we watched him bat for 645 minutes in Johannesburg making an unbeaten 185 and saving the game for England. He did not bat so well technically in Johannesburg as he did here in Christchurch, has not in fact done so for a couple of years, and the satisfaction that his performance brought England victory was hard-earned and well-deserved.
Cork's contribution to the success of the series has been altogether more modest but not as inconsequential as some suggest. His bowling is sloppy at present with its laboured run-up and its low, slinging arm. His action is tending to spin out of itself on a horizontal plane rather than following through vertically and down the pitch towards the batsman. He knows this and in straining to correct it has lost rhythm and is guilty of no balls - a sure sign of uncertainty in a bowler.
Having said that, in both innings of this match he has given England a dramatic start by hitting Bryan Young's stumps on the first morning and then persuading Blair Pocock to play on to his stumps second time out. Such early strikes bring energy and confidence to a fielding team and eased the pressure on Andrew Caddick who has been bowling for his future.
Then, with England stuttering after the loss of three wickets for five runs in 16 balls, he led an unbroken partnership of 76 with John Crawley which won the match. First he padded up to Daniel Vettori's attack into the rough outside the leg stump with more conviction than anyone except Atherton and then, having settled the panicking ship, played typical offside strokes which spread the New Zealand field.
He batted for two hours and 25 minutes, facing 123 balls for his 39 which was uncharacteristic stuff indeed but a match-winning effort all the same. And it is matchwinners that England require for there are a truck-load of useful cricketers back home but only a handful of special ones.
Like Atherton who has not learnt to con people into believing he is having a good time, Cork has not learnt to temper those manic expressions and unworthy indiscretions which do not do him justice and which aggravate those who judge him. Like Atherton he is a thoroughly good bloke who does not always show as much and he is a special cricketer with a spark that England still cannot do without.