Butcher enjoys his new lease of Test life

England's comeback king of the Ashes series so far, the once forgotten Surrey batsman Mark Butcher, has spoken of his determination to match the Aussies stroke for stroke in the Third Test at Trent Bridge.

Butcher has been one of England's few successes this summer, scoring 41 and 21 in the innings defeat at Edgbaston and a defiant 83 in the second innings at Lords. After struggling for several years opening the batting, his recall to number 3 has given him a new lease of Test life, and he is relishing the challenge.

"That's why it's called Test cricket, it's hard work," he says. "Glenn McGrath is a class act, a very fine bowler, and you just have to find ways of combating that. You need to be positive.

"At Lord's I'd play a few shots and try to keep the score moving along and given the choice I'd probably do the same thing again. I got to 83 playing that way; the best way to play against them is to be attacking. The best thing to do to a short, wide ball is to hit it for four. When I came back into the Test side, I made up my mind to enjoy it."

In fact, Butcher tops England's batting averages for the series so far, which must help him to enjoy his time in the middle. As England's management refute claims that they are making excuses, Butcher has refused to blame the toss, which England have lost in the last nine matches. "If the coin comes down the wrong way again we've got to deal with it. The guys won Test matches on the subcontinent in the winter when they lost the toss; it's not the end of the world."

For a man who was out of contention until injury ripped through England's middle order, Butcher has made remarkable progress to emerge as the home side's form batsmen. He hopes for more runs at Trent Bridge, this time with a different overall result: "Pitches have been very good at Trent Bridge, and the outfield is fast. You've just got to make sure your performance and skill levels are in order. I got really close to a hundred at Lord's, but the match situation is more important."