Strauss stays upbeat despite defeat at Oval

CRICKET THIRD TEST:ANDREW STRAUSS says England can approach next week's Lord's decider against Pakistan in confident mood despite their third Test slump.

Strauss’ side were comfortable victors in the first two matches of the series, but twice collapsed at the Oval on the way to a four-wicket defeat. That broke a six-game winning streak, a run which Strauss feels says at least as much about his side as four poor days in London.

“We’ve played a lot of good cricket this year so let’s put everything in context. We’ve got every right to feel very confident going to Lord’s. We want to finish the season on a high and win it and everyone will be very motivated to do so.

“We do, though, have couple of things we need to make sure we don’t repeat. There have been wickets that have done a bit this series – but with this wicket perhaps there were fewer excuses. We have to take that on the chin and not repeat our mistakes.”

Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has become an increasingly key figure for his side since being drafted in in place of Danish Kaneria for the second Test at Edgbaston, but Strauss has backed England to improve against him.

Ajmal was central to the hosts’ second-innings collapse, returning four for 71 and baffling a succession of batsmen with his well-disguised doosra. Asked how England planned to combat the 32-year-old’s threat, Strauss said: “It’s an individual thing, sometimes you pick him, sometimes you don’t. Test cricket is about managing your game and if you haven’t picked the doosra you have to know what shots to be wary of playing, what the percentages are.

“The more you face someone the more you’re clear on that. It’s like Muttiah Muralitharan when he first came out with his doosra and got a lot of wickets with it. The more you face it, the more you understand where you look to score off him. We should have been better in this game but the more we play Ajmal the better we’ll be against him.”

For the fourth Test, England have added Yorkshire pace bowler Tim Bresnan to the 11-man squad.

Strauss has been resolute in focusing on the task in hand this summer, regularly deflecting or downplaying any Ashes speculation. He reacted disinterestedly when told of Ricky Ponting’s suggestion Australia could claim the series 5-0.“If we had won this series 4-0 that’s not going to make it any more likely we win that first Test against Australia,” he said.