England must be ruthless, says Gatting
Mitch Phillips
Mike Gatting urged England to be merciless in their pursuit of
long-term success after he passed on a 24-year-old honour to Andrew
Strauss on Wednesday.
Gatting had been the last England captain to retain the Ashes on
Australian soil until Strauss emulated the feat with victory in the
fourth test in Melbourne.
The former batsman believes England can become the dominant force of
test cricket if they have the will to capitalise on this Ashes success.
Ruthless
"We've got to get used to keeping people down and being ruthless; we
haven't really been that way inclined before," he told the BBC.
"But nothing's impossible for this team, and if they keep believing
and keep working together as a team then they could be one of the teams
that could be up there for a long time."
Series victory
Gatting led England to a series victory in Australia in 1986/7 to
retain the Ashes won in 1985, an achievement that proved beyond a
succession of touring groups until England won in Melbourne on Wednesday
to go 2-1 up in the five-match series. The first test ended in a draw.
"It's a very proud moment and they should all be very proud," Gatting
said. "To win the Ashes down there is so difficult...so I hope people
don't try to demean this by saying it wasn't a very good Australian team
I get a bit fed up when I hear Englishman saying that. You never hear
the Australians saying that and I hope people don't."
The impressive contributions of seam bowlers Tim Bresnan and Chris
Tremlett, neither of whom were in the first-choice England XI at the
start of the tour, has underlined the new depth of talent in the English
game.
"I am very pleased for Tim," said Martyn Moxon, the director of
cricket at Bresnan's county, Yorkshire. "He has had to be very patient
while waiting for his chance.
This is a massive step for him, he has shown his ability and he
really rose to the occasion. "He is a different type of bowler to the
other guys in the England attack. He is a bit stockier and offers some
variation.
I'm delighted to see him do so well."
Kickstart
Tremlett looked to have missed his chance at international level
after a brief flurry three years ago, but a move from Hampshire to
Surrey and a change in physique kickstarted his career.
Chris Adams, the Surrey manager and former England batsman, said:
"When we got (Tremlett) he was very big in his upper body and we have
tried to streamline him. LONDON, Reuters |
