Andrew Strauss Sticks to His Guns Over Five Bowlers' Strategy
England are best-balanced for the series with a five-man attack, says the England captain Andrew Strauss
England's captain, Andrew Strauss, was adamant today that he wants to attack Australia with five bowlers in this Ashes series, with or without Andrew Flintoff. The release of Ian Bell was a clue. But Strauss added: "I think if you've gone for 670 runs and only taken six wickets, it's probably not a great option to reduce your bowling attack," he said.
"We are pretty comfortable with five bowlers. That's a nice balance for us. I know our bowlers are very keen to make amends for what happened in Cardiff and hopefully the conditions here will be a little bit more bowler-friendly."
Briefly, very briefly, it was neither Flintoff nor the England bowling that dominated attention today but the news that Kevin Pietersen was a doubt for the second Test. However, even though it was confirmed that he had been given an injection in his back before the first Test and another in his achilles yesterday, it was confirmed that he would play.
Strauss admits that England underperformed in Cardiff but feels that the conditions at Lord's will help his players perform to a higher level. "Our margin for error on that wicket [Cardiff] was very small," he said. "Maybe we tried too many things at times rather than just keep being patient. But I think a lot of our players, if we're honest, will look back at that Test match and say we didn't really play as well as we should have done.
"We have had a good chat about that and possible reasons why that is the case. From our point of view it's fantastic that we got out of it with a draw and now we have some momentum going into this game and we won't be repeating those mistakes."
But Strauss is also conscious that Lord's tends to bring out the best in Australians, who have not been beaten by England on this ground since 1934. "I think the old favorite of Australia being really motivated and inspired by Lord's holds in some ways," he said. "When I look back to the one game we played here before in an Ashes series [in 2005] we didn't play well enough.
"It [Lord's] is special. Playing in an Ashes Test match is special and playing in a Lord's Test match is very special for similar reasons, the history, the tradition, the number of great players that have played here before and it is the 'home of cricket'.
"As England players it inspires us. Most recently we have played some good cricket here. There have been a lot of draws because it is usually a very flat wicket but if you look at our honours boards we've scored a lot of hundreds here. It's going to be a wicket where a lot of patience and discipline will be required."
"We are pretty comfortable with five bowlers. That's a nice balance for us. I know our bowlers are very keen to make amends for what happened in Cardiff and hopefully the conditions here will be a little bit more bowler-friendly."
Briefly, very briefly, it was neither Flintoff nor the England bowling that dominated attention today but the news that Kevin Pietersen was a doubt for the second Test. However, even though it was confirmed that he had been given an injection in his back before the first Test and another in his achilles yesterday, it was confirmed that he would play.
Strauss admits that England underperformed in Cardiff but feels that the conditions at Lord's will help his players perform to a higher level. "Our margin for error on that wicket [Cardiff] was very small," he said. "Maybe we tried too many things at times rather than just keep being patient. But I think a lot of our players, if we're honest, will look back at that Test match and say we didn't really play as well as we should have done.
"We have had a good chat about that and possible reasons why that is the case. From our point of view it's fantastic that we got out of it with a draw and now we have some momentum going into this game and we won't be repeating those mistakes."
But Strauss is also conscious that Lord's tends to bring out the best in Australians, who have not been beaten by England on this ground since 1934. "I think the old favorite of Australia being really motivated and inspired by Lord's holds in some ways," he said. "When I look back to the one game we played here before in an Ashes series [in 2005] we didn't play well enough.
"It [Lord's] is special. Playing in an Ashes Test match is special and playing in a Lord's Test match is very special for similar reasons, the history, the tradition, the number of great players that have played here before and it is the 'home of cricket'.
"As England players it inspires us. Most recently we have played some good cricket here. There have been a lot of draws because it is usually a very flat wicket but if you look at our honours boards we've scored a lot of hundreds here. It's going to be a wicket where a lot of patience and discipline will be required."
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