England not panicked over batting failure in Pakistan says Strauss
LAHORE, Pakistan, Nov 6 (AFP) England's opener Andrew Strauss Sunday
said he was not panicked by his team's dismal batting performance in the
second tour match against Pakistan but it was an opportunity to work
harder ahead of next week's first Test.
"That's not a panic situation we just have to keep working hard,"
said Strauss, who managed just five in England's dismal score of 126 on
the first day of their second tour match against Pakistan 'A' in Lahore
on Sunday.
England's plans to gain some serious batting practice were spoiled by
Pakistan paceman Mohammad Asif who took 7-62 after England captain
Michael Vaughan won the toss and decided to bat.
Pakistan 'A' finished the day at 127-8 with England paceman Matthew
Hoggard (4-39) and spinner Ashley Giles (3-14) sharing the bowling
spoils.
Strauss said that he thought England misread the pitch.
"The wicket looked flat but it didn't transpire that way. We've got
to be ready for any type of wicket... we've got to be able to react
quickly to how the wickets start off that's what we haven't done quite
well enough so far on this tour," said Strauss, 27. England, who expect
a spin-friendly pitch in the Test series, won their opening tour match
by 52 runs on a seaming pitch at Rawalpindi last week.
"We were suddenly four or five down before we realized that actually
this wicket was not my kind of wicket. We should have accepted that a
little bit earlier," said Strauss, who managed five and six runs in the
first match.
"The pitch certainly did a bit this morning."
Strauss, who has been a star performer for England since making his
debut in 2003, scored 393 runs with two hundreds in England's 2-1 Ashes
win over Australia two months ago. But he has yet to spark on the
current tour.
"Each batsman individually has got to look at how he has got out and
whether he's been at fault or he just got a good delivery or a bit of
both but we will be working hard both in the second innings and prior to
the Test match."
Strauss hoped the pitches would be different for Tests.
"The wickets in Test matches might be very different to this pitch.
It is important we must practice as hard as we can before that first
Test. Maybe, we can learn lessons from that." |