England opener Andrew Strauss admitted that facing the Indian left-arm pacemen — Zaheer Khan and Rudra Pratap Singh — has been a difficult job.
“It is unusual to play left-arm seam. And these two have been two slightly different bowlers as well, and when they come round the wicket like that, it’s difficult. We haven’t managed that (practising with Sidebottom) since we’ve been away from each other.
“But the bowling machine can replicate lefty swing pretty well. It’s all about the angles. I for sure am a lot more certain about my gameplan against left-arm swing than I was at the start of the series,” Strauss said here on Tuesday.
Patchy form On his patchy form with the bat, Strauss said, “I clearly haven't scored as many runs as I would have liked, but we’ve had some tough series — the Ashes away series — and it’s been a tough year. I don’t know about hundreds, 96 in a low-scoring game was probably worth more than a 100 on a flat batting track. But, the good thing is that I feel I’m contributing to the team. You’re always tested at this level. Bowlers find ways of getting you out. You have to learn to adapt to that.”
Former England wicketkeeper-batsman Alec Stewart had recently criticised England batsmen’s shot selection in the last two Tests. The left-hander, however, has said that the team has been trying to be positive.
“We’ve prided ourselves on playing positive cricket. Sometimes you can look like an idiot when it doesn’t come off.
“It doesn’t matter how you get out, you can be bowled by a good ball for nought or you can get out playing your strokes. It’s about how many runs you make. But, we all do understand that you have to work harder for your runs when it is swinging and nipping about,” he said.
On the jelly bean incident in the second Test at Trent Bridge, Strauss said, “We haven’t paid too much attention to that. I know we have a responsibility to the game, and a responsibility to club cricketers. What happened came through a bit of misunderstanding. And the umpires thought it might flare up, so I just went and asked them to calm it down. We’re trying to move on from it.”
England have not lost a home series since the 2001 Ashes, and Strauss said the team will do try their best to level the series. “We don’t want to lose this series. I don’t think we’re a worse side than India and it’s up to us to go out and prove it. We’re not going to be short on motivation in this Test,” he said.
When the last time England had played in a Test at the Oval against Pakistan, the match ended in dramatic circumstances with the visitors forfeiting the Test. Dwelling on that match, Strauss said, “I think the overriding memory was that the game of cricket being the loser, something that could possibly have been avoided. It was a shame to be part of that Test, but there were lessons learnt.”
Pietersen absent Kevin Pietersen did not attend the training session due to illness. He is running temperature. His availability will be assessed on Wednesday.
