Andrew Strauss Focused on Pakistan; Warns Players Not to Concentrate on Ashes Series Right Now
On the eve of the first Test against Pakistan, captain of the England team, Andrew Strauss, has warned his players that they ought to concentrate on Pakistan rather than focusing on the Ashes series against Australia set to take place Down Under in four months’ time.
The left-handed opening batsman declared that beating http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 would be an extremely tough challenge, considering the potency of their attack, especially in English conditions, where the ball swings and jags around in favourable weather.
Andrew Strauss, who led the English team to a 3-0 win over Pakistan the last time the two teams clashed in a Test series four years ago, said that the present series was a real challenge and was his own focus for the time being, rather than the next one - The Ashes in Australia.
The Pakistani team just drew a neutral series against the Australians, recording an impressive win at Headingley, Leeds that ended a massive record of 13 consecutive defeats against them in 15 years.
The first Test starts today at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, and Strauss is keyed up for the big game. "Look, it's a big challenge, you know. We saw against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 the Pakistan side is a dangerous one full of talent and you know four Test matches here that they're used to the conditions, so we don't have that to surprise them in any way. So we're going to have to be at our best to win it, and that's a good thing for us and a good challenge for us, not just ahead of The Ashes, but just generally. We want to play the best and hopefully compete and beat the best."
Strauss believes that the experience of playing two Test matches prior to the England series would greatly help Pakistan, adding that the conditions at Trent Bridge could be tough for all batsmen, so it was up to his side to react better than the opposition does.
"Look, I think Pakistan has got a good bowling line-up, there's no doubt about that, and you know, most Test sides you play against have got good bowling line-ups. Not long ago, we were playing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 and South Africa, they've got a very strong bowling line-up as well, so that's something we're used to as a batting group. But you know the conditions here, if it swings, certainly here at Trent Bridge, that's going to be hard for all batsmen. We need to react better to those conditions than Pakistan," said Strauss.
Meanwhile, the English media is already labelling the series a dress rehearsal before the five match Ashes show down later in the year.
The series will be starting in Brisbane on November 25, and despite the apparent interest of the media, Strauss feels that it was not "helpful" to look that far ahead.
"Well look, in some ways it's a precursor because there's a lot of attention towards The Ashes and we can understand that but, you know, it's wrong to look at any series and start looking beyond it. I mean, the most important thing we can do is play well in this series, win the series, go from this series to Australia with a lot of confidence. But to start looking at Australia at this stage is not helpful. So you know, we're fully focused on this series, we've been waiting for it for a little while now, it's, you know, probably a step up from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 and that's what we need," said Strauss.
After the Nottingham test, the two teams will move to Birmingham which will host the second test at Edgbaston.
The third match of the series will be played at the Oval in South of London from 18th August, followed by the final match of the series that will be staged at the Lord’s in London from 26th August.
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