Strauss tells England top-order to shape up

Apart from Collingwood,no England top-order batsman managed more in their second innings than Strauss’s 17. And the Middlesex left-handed opener admitted that simply wasn’t good enough on a pitch where,only the day before,Australia had piled up 674 for six declared featuring hundreds from captain Ricky Ponting (150),Marcus North (125 not out),Simon Katich (122) and Brad Haddin (121). “The top order didn’t perform well enough. We all had a part to play in our own downfall,there were a lot of ways of staying in there and we didn’t find them,” said Strauss.

Strauss could only watch as Anderson and Panesar showed England’s premier batsmen how to keep Australia at bay. “I was on the edge of my seat,” Strauss,who was seen holding his head in his hands during England’s last-wicket stand,said. “It was horrible to watch. As a batsman,to watch Nos 10 and 11 do your job for you is not a place you want to be. There’s a huge amount of relief.” He too praised Collingwood’s application,saying,”He’s a tenacious little red-head. He never takes a backward step. “That was his route into the Test team and it’s kind of the only way he knows. In circumstances like that you almost expect him to do something along those lines and it just underlines his value to the side.”

Australia captain Ricky Ponting was clearly unimpressed with what he labelled England’s “ordinary” tactics but Strauss said,”I personally thought the game was played in a pretty good spirit the whole way through.”