Strauss is not happy with his form – Cricket News Update
England suffered their fourth consecutive Test defeat against Sri Lanka yesterday, March 29, at the Galle International cricket stadium. They lost by 75 runs and with that the batting of the English contingent has come under scrutiny, none more so than that
of the captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964.
As a captain he should be leading from the front, but in the two innings against Sri Lanka, Strauss managed scores of just 26 and 27. The most frustrating aspect of his innings were that he got himself out, playing irresponsible shots, rather than the bowler
dismissing him on a good delivery.
Strauss, who has not managed to score a Test hundred since the last 16 matches, got out trying to sweep a full delivery in the first inning and in the second inning; he was caught-out, trying to go over the in-field. These are poor dismissals for a batsman
who has been the backbone of the English Test batting over the last decade.
Strauss put his performances in perspective by saying, "At the moment it is frustrating me as much as anyone," he said. "I'm hitting the ball nicely and feel in good form but you're judged on your performances and I've not performed well enough.”
It is not only Strauss that that has struggled with the bat this year. The England team has crossed 300 only once in four Test matches, and in both innings against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, England failed to make more than 300 runs. The only shinning light in the match
was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013.
"I think individually people's gameplans against spin have come on but we haven't showed it out in the middle. If you want to win Test matches you need to get runs on the board and we haven't done that. In the fourth innings you can understand the odd dismissal
but we had less of an excuse in our first innings," said Strauss.
The second and last Test match of the series gets underway from April 3rd, and it will be one final chance for the English team to regain some pride in Asia.
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