Spotlight on Behaviour As England Return to Oval

There were no doves released here yesterday, no sightings of Pax or Concordia. A year after the single most controversial day's cricket in England, when Pakistan were deemed by the umpire Darrell Hair to have forfeited the match, the game is bracing itself for more unpleasantness when the summer's final Test between England and India starts tomorrow.

Andrew Strauss was England's captain last year and he said yesterday: "My overriding memory of that game was that cricket was a loser. That was the conclusion most people drew from it. It was a real shame to be part of that Test match and to see the game finish in that way. Hopefully lessons will be learned and it won't be repeated."

But if cricket was a loser here a year ago it barely scraped a draw at Trent Bridge last week, when some fine play was marred by petulance and peevishness from both sides.

Do not expect peace to break out just yet, though. Strauss added: "I don't think you will see a massive change in the way we play this week. It's important we play with the aggression in the next five days." But he did concede: "The fact there has been such a strong reaction suggests we need to look how we play our cricket and make sure we don't overstep any mark. We all recognise that in international cricket we all play with intensity and controlled aggression because that's how you win. But there is a line there and we have responsibilities to club cricketers and young cricketers not to cross that line."

At Lord's and Trent Bridge England were responsible for the sort of gobbiness and trash-talk more readily associated with American sport. Few would have minded a bit of old-fashioned sledging if only the perpetrators knew how to do it. The idea that a callow side could put off such a vastly experienced team as India by such methods was almost as naive as the tritely trotted out notion that "what goes on on the field stays on the field", which ignores the fact that there are TV microphones out there.

Strauss has other reasons to reflect on that game against Pakistan, for it was the last occasion he scored a Test century. He has hit 96 against India at Lord's and a more fluent fifty in Nottingham without dispelling the notion that his best form has deserted him. He has already been dropped from the one-day side and he needs to do well here to squash speculation that he may not be offered a new central contract in October.

"I feel pretty comfortable about my game because I'm contributing to the team and that means getting runs consistently, which I'm starting to do now. I haven't scored a hundred but 96 on a low-scoring game is probably worth a hundred on a flat one."