England not panicked over batting failure in Pakistan: Strauss by AFP

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Scorecard:	Pakistan A v England XI
Event:	England in Pakistan 2005/06

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DateLine: 6th November 2005

 

England's opener Andrew Strauss Sunday said he was not panicked by his team's dismal batting performance in the second tour match against Pakistan but it was an opportunity to work harder ahead of next week's first Test.

 

"That's not a panic situation we just have to keep working hard," said Strauss, who managed just five in England's dismal score of 126 on the first day of their second tour match against Pakistan 'A' in Lahore on Sunday.

 

England's plans to gain some serious batting practice were spoiled by Pakistan paceman Mohammad Asif who took 7-62 after England captain Michael Vaughan won the toss and decided to bat.

 

Pakistan 'A' finished the day at 127-8 with England paceman Matthew Hoggard (4-39) and spinner Ashley Giles (3-14) sharing the bowling spoils. Strauss said that he thought England misread the pitch.

 

"The wicket looked flat but it didn't transpire that way. We've got to be ready for any type of wicket... we've got to be able to react quickly to how the wickets start off that's what we haven't done quite well enough so far on this tour," said Strauss, 27.

 

England, who expect a spin-friendly pitch in the Test series, won their opening tour match by 52 runs on a seaming pitch at Rawalpindi last week.

 

"We were suddenly four or five down before we realized that actually this wicket was not my kind of wicket. We should have accepted that a little bit earlier," said Strauss, who managed five and six runs in the first match.

 

"The pitch certainly did a bit this morning."

 

Strauss, who has been a star performer for England since making his debut in 2003, scored 393 runs with two hundreds in England's 2-1 Ashes win over Australia two months ago. But he has yet to spark on the current tour.

 

"Each batsman individually has got to look at how he has got out and whether he's been at fault or he just got a good delivery or a bit of both but we will be working hard both in the second innings and prior to the Test match."

 

Strauss hoped the pitches would be different for Tests. "The wickets in Test matches might be very different to this pitch. It is important we must practice as hard as we can before that first Test. Maybe, we can learn lessons from that."

(Article: Copyright © 2005 AFP)