By CricketCountry Staff
England captain Andrew Strauss remains upbeat about his bowlers' form despite the second Test ending in a draw against South Africa.
Published: Aug 07, 2012, 04:47 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 07, 2012, 04:47 PM (IST)
Andrew Strauss said if the bowlers keep doing the right things, at some stage they will get their rewards © AFP
By CricketCountry Staff
Leeds: Aug 7, 2012
England captain Andrew Strauss remains upbeat about his bowlers’ form despite the second Test ending in a draw against South Africa.
The second Test was hampered as 72 overs were washed away by rain. England were in control of the Test, as Stuart Broad ended with figures of five for 69 on the last day at Leeds.
“Our bowlers have toiled really well, and were maybe a little bit frustrated they weren’t getting their just deserts,” Strauss said.
“But Broady’s spell showed there’s a crazy session in there for us. If the bowlers keep doing the right things, at some stage they will get their rewards,” Strauss was quoted as saying bywww.scotland.co.uk.
England rested off-spinner Graeme Swann for the first time in three and a half years, as they went ahead to play with full-pace attack.
“He was fine. He understood the reasons,” said the opening batsman.
“I don’t think he was all that keen not to be playing. But he’s obviously a very good team man, and took it well.”
A lot of questions were asked to Strauss about Kevin Pietersen’s Test future. Pietersen on Monday dropped a bombshell by suggesting that the third and final Test against South Africa might be his last.
Strauss suggested that Pietersen might be promoted up the batting line-up on Monday, to help the team get some quick runs against South African pace attack.
“We put Kevin up there, after he played so magnificently in the first innings – and he had the opportunity to possibly take the game away from South Africa on his own, in a way that only he is capable of playing.”
“Once he got out, the idea was to take stock a little bit but leave ourselves in a situation with 20 overs to go where we could almost view it as a Twenty20 game. But it was certainly a viable chase, I think. We needed a lot of things to go right for us, and unfortunately not enough did,” concluded Strauss.
