England tour of Sri Lanka: Graeme Swann hails Andrew Strauss’ response to criticism – Cricket News Update
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964, as he silenced his critics with an impressive batting performance. Strauss and the England team have been bombarded with criticism after they lost four
Test matches on the trot.
Strauss, the left-handed batsman has been scrutinised by media for not leading from the front, and he somewhat silenced the voices by scoring 61 runs on the second day of the Colombo Test match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758.
Swann praised Strauss for keeping his cool while everyone in the media was talking negatively.
Swann said, “He hasn't shown any signs (of pressure). We only realised he was under scrutiny because some of us can read and we've seen the papers. There has been what I see as a bit of a witch hunt towards him, which I think is unjustified, but you wouldn't
tell from the way he carries himself and the way he's captained.”
The off-spinner was happy that Strauss, who was short of runs, found his form at the right time and put on a valuable first-wicket partnership of 122 runs for England in the second Test match of the series. He however, admitted that the English skipper will
be furious with himself for missing out on a chance to score a century.
He said, “He's very phlegmatic, very laid-back. He's the best captain in world cricket and a world-class opening batsman. He'll be kicking himself not to have gone on (to a century) but he gave us a solid start and we're delighted how it's panned out.”
Strauss has retired from the limited overs game in order to concentrate on the longest version, but he has not scored a century for quite some time. The left-handed batsman had a great chance to score it but was denied by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TM-Dilshan-c2691, who dismissed
the English skipper in the 52nd over.
Strauss got out but his opening partner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 is still at the crease. The left-hander batsman, has 77 runs to his name, and looks good to score more. At close of day two, England had scored 154 runs, and they are still trailing by 121 runs with nine
wickets in hand.
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