The Captain of the England Cricket team, Andrew Strauss said on Thursday that his side must keep their feet strongly on the ground despite having successfully batted against Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson in the Ashes
series.
Mitchell, who also won the Cricketer of the Year award back in 2009, was dropped out from the Australian squad for the second test on Wednesday as a result of his woeful exhibit in the first Test match earlier this week in Brisbane.
The English side completely dominated the final two days of the opening Test match at the Gabba with a tremendous batting display to prevent a match that they were on the cusp of losing, however Strauss was extremely careful not
to get away with talk of momentum in the five-Test series.
"A big theme of our preparations has been making sure we keep our feet on the ground and realise it is nil all in the series. We have not achieved anything yet. If we do want to achieve something, we have to steel ourselves for
another five tough days of cricket,” the 33-year-old told the media at the news conference on Thursday.
Mitchell is expected to be replaced by Doug Bollinger in the second Test. The Australian side could also make another change in the bowling department with Ryan Harris coming in for Ben Hilfenhaus.
The English team, on the other hand, will announce their team for the second Test on the first morning of the match, which will start from Friday on a wicket likely to start as favourable to batsmen however could offer something
for the spinners in the last few days of the match.
"My experience of playing international Cricket is that a lack of stability is not a good thing. It means people are generally a bit concerned about their place in the side. In that sense, that is a good thing for us. But I think
we have got to be slightly wary of the guys that they have got in their squad. They are good performers and they have had a lot of success in Test cricket so it is not like they are dragging in someone from obscurity so we have got to be able to contend with
them,” said Strauss.
Further commenting on his team, the England Captain, added that this might be the match where Swann would be able to make the kind of impact that was expected from him in this series.
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