Hussain: England must dig deep or be swept away

[King]

Cricket: Test cricket has a habit of turning round and kicking you where it most hurts when you think you have it cracked and, for all the talent in this England side, the defeat by India must serve as an urgent wake-up call. The mantra from England is always, 'We're going to play positive cricket', but there must still be room in the modern world for 'over-my-dead-body' cricketMore... Hussain: England must dig deep or be swept away By NASSER HUSSAIN - More by this author » Last updated at 21:02pm on 14th August 2007 Comments Test cricket has a habit of turning round and kicking you where it most hurts when you think you have it cracked and, for all the talent in this England side, the defeat by India must serve as an urgent wake-up call. The mantra from England is always, "We're going to play positive cricket", but there must still be room in the modern world for "over-my- dead-body" cricket. Michael Vaughan has one of the best batting line-ups of the last 20 years at his disposal but I am not sure they are realising their full potential. England, at times, are not playing to the situation facing them. Even on Monday when they batted well to draw the third npower Test there were too many players giving it away when well set. Only Paul Collingwood, really, was properly dismissed by the opposition — the rest found ways of getting themselves out. These guys have to look at the bigger picture. Kevin Pietersen produced a top-quality, proper Test hundred but then he gave it away immediately and offered India a glimmer of hope that the door to victory was open again. And it is not the first time he has got out after reaching a landmark or a break in play. Similarly, Ian Bell batted quite brilliantly but then got out to a little dab sweep with half an hour to go to safety. England's batsmen cannot be happy to do their bit and then leave it to someone else to save the game. That's a dangerous trap to fall into. I do not think England have gone backwards since winning the Ashes, but I think it's fair to say that some players have not progressed as much as we would have liked and expected them to. It's all very well hammering West Indies and lesser opposition but surely England's experiences in Adelaide last winter and at Lord's against India have shown them that they must never give a sucker an even chance. Whatever England say, I still think there was not enough urgency at Lord's on the final morning of the first Test when, ultimately, a failure to finish off India cost them the series. They knew rain was on the way but they still moved along at a poor over-rate and India were able to escape with nine wickets down. Since then Rahul Dravid's side have been excellent in what has been a superb 'mini' series. It's absolutely ridiculous that we are now facing a seven-match oneday series rather than a fourth and even a fifth Test. This could have been one of the great recent fivematch series between two evenlymatched sides but the administrators have not allowed it to ebb and flow nor given England the chance to hit back, which they were perfectly capable of doing. Mental toughness, as ever, is the key to England coming back from this. England may be getting out because of fatigue — remember they have been on the road since March 2006 — but that's part and parcel of being an international cricketer. The lack of application at times is the root of why England lost their six-year unbeaten home record at The Oval. Mind you, Andrew Strauss is someone who is looking tired after being through everything with the team over the last few years. Strauss will be looking over his shoulder now. If England were touring South Africa, West Indies, Australia or New Zealand in their next Test series, Strauss would still be an automatic pick. But he will not relish the slow, low turning pitches of Sri Lanka and Murali waiting in anticipation for him. Meanwhile, Ravi Bopara, who is really pushing for selection now, is a brilliant player of spin and will have great memories of how he played Sri Lanka, and Murali in particular, in that World Cup game in the West Indies earlier this year which he almost won on his own. I would like to consider the matter more carefully before I advocate the dropping of Strauss because he is still a fantastic player but clearly he will need to go back to county cricket and score heaps of runs for Middlesex, or have a complete break. I am not so worried about Alastair Cook even though I would like to see him add the sweep to his armoury. At the moment he just won't play the shot and that is enabling captains to put fielders round the corner and get him out like India did on Monday. Every player has a technical hitch and Cook's situation is similar to that of Graham Gooch when he kept on falling over to the off-side and getting out lbw to Terry Alderman. I would now like to see Cook hitting the nets with Andy Flower, one of the greatest sweepers the game has seen, to work on the shot before he goes to Sri Lanka. That's what Matt Hayden did before going to India for that famous series in 2001 and he then proceeded to sweep Harbajhan Singh to distraction, having previously never played the shot. If a big old unit like Hayden can do it, I'm sure Cook can. India deserved to win 1-0 but could well have won 2-0 if they had really gone for it by enforcing the follow on at The Oval. They won mainly because their two swing bowlers — Zaheer Khan and RP Singh — surprised England by swinging it both ways and having quick bouncers. Also, their openers showed that there is more to India's batting than the 'fab four'. I still fear for them when they go to Australia, partly because they are so immobile in the field. If Dinesh Karthik is your best fielder you've got problems. For England, it is a question of attitude rather than any lack of quality that needs to be addressed. I wish I could have batted as well as some of these England players, but they do not always have to bat like millionaires. A bit of old-fashioned blocking would not go amiss. NASSER'S REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL 1. The batting of Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen. These two make it look so easy. They are true worldclass players and should score heaps more runs for England. Excellent that the captain has come back so well from his serious injury problems. 2. Jimmy Anderson. I have watched him plodding along on the periphery for so long and now he has ended up as England's man of the series against India. A very nice lad who has proved he can be a genuine wicket-taker — and he gets good players out. If only he could cut out those fourballs he really would be in business. 3. Ryan Sidebottom. Plucked from county cricket and has used the conditions well all summer. Kept one of the game's greatest players in Sachin Tendulkar completely confused, even if dropped catches meant he couldn't get him out. Has given the selectors a tricky problem for the winter when the big guns come back. ...AND REASONS TO BE FEARFUL 1. Andrew Strauss scored 10 centuries in his first 30 Tests, just like Kevin Pietersen now has, but he has not scored one since. No doubt his poor run, which has lasted a year, was started by poor decisions in Australia but his career is at a crossroads. 2. I am not going to crucify Matt Prior after one bad Test but he is now under pressure and he will have to be tough to come through it. Fascinating that Rahul Dravid kept him out there until the very end on Monday even though the chance of winning the match had gone. Prior had chirped them all series and India wanted to kick him in the gonads by getting him out again before the one-day series. Prior came through it and that could stand him in good stead. 3. Shot selection. If you want to play a little dab sweep, Ian Bell, don't do it half an hour before the end of a Test that you are trying to save. It just undoes all the hard work and is England's biggest collective problem.

[monkeyfood]

I don't like nasser hussain i noticed throughout the entire series he was only saying some real not so good things about the indian side and making them look as if they uncivilized and always making england superior to them.