Strauss strives to end barren spell

Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook: misfiring at the top of England's order © Getty Images

There was a time in Andrew Strauss's England career when he scored centuries for fun. A hundred on debut against New Zealand in 2004; hundreds on his first appearances against West Indies and South Africa, two more in his maiden Ashes summer a year later. After 30 Tests he had 10 to his name, as well as a brace in ODIs, and the record books had him bracketed alongside similarly speedy starters in Herbert Sutcliffe, Len Hutton and Wally Hammond. But 12 Tests down the line, Strauss's tally has resolutely refused to roll onwards. The momentum has deserted him, just as it seems to have deserted his team in this series.

In fact, it is a year ago to the day since Strauss last reached three figures in international cricket. That was at Headingley against Pakistan last August, when Strauss's role and reputation in the game was significantly different. He was captain of England back then - albeit in a stand-in capacity for Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff - and an integral member of the limited-overs set-up. Yesterday, however, it was confirmed he would be missing the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa, as well as the seven-match one-day series against India. On Thursday Strauss begins his final international appearance of the summer, and it could hardly be a more crucial encounter.

England have not lost a home series since the Ashes summer of 2001, and a proud record is very much under threat against an Indian side that extracted extra motivation from the Jellygate saga at Trent Bridge last week. "We don't want to lose the series," said Strauss. "We've played some good cricket and we don't feel we're a worse side than India, so we need to go out and prove that this week. That's a great motivating factor, but I don't think we're going to be short of motivation this week. We've got a lot of points to prove and we want to show the type of cricket we can play."

Few members of England's team will have more to prove than the openers, who were comprehensively upstaged by their Indian counterparts at Trent Bridge. England may have been caught cold on a damp track in the first innings, but by the time Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer had added 147 for the first wicket in reply, the game was as good as won and lost. Strauss and his partner Alastair Cook have managed just four fifty-run stands in 25 attempts, with a best effort of 76 coming against a rusty Indian attack on the opening morning at Lord's. Not since Graham Gooch was briefly partnered by Tim Robinson in the mid-1980s have England had such slim pickings at the top.

Sometimes you don't get it right and you get out playing a big shot and look like an idiot, but you have to take that on the chin Andrew Strauss on England's positive intent

"One of the reasons we haven't put on many partnerships is that I haven't been in great form," said a candid Strauss. "Clearly I haven't scored as many runs as I'd like to so it's been a difficult year, and a tough year in terms of the teams we've played. But Cooky and I get on exceptionally well off the pitch. We've put together a lot of 30,40,50 partnerships, so we are doing the hard work. There's no reason rationally why we can't go on and get big scores together."

Both men have had their technical shortcomings exposed this summer. Cook, who had his outside edge tormented by Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath in the winter, is now finding himself shuffling across his stumps and has fallen lbw four innings in a row, twice each to Zaheer Khan and Sourav Ganguly. Strauss meanwhile was once so adept at playing within his limitations - nudging and pushing the full-length delivery, and pulling anything short - but this summer he has found himself playing with unfamiliar aggression. His two best innings of the series ended in reckless fashions; a wild charge at Anil Kumble deprived him of a hundred at Lord's, and a loose slash at Zaheer Khan undermined England's second-innings revival at Trent Bridge.

"We've prided ourselves on playing positive cricket for the last five or six years, and it's worked very well for us," said Strauss. "Sometimes you don't get it right and you get out playing a big shot and look like an idiot, but you have to take that on the chin and realise that maybe the wicket wasn't suitable for that stroke. But I feel comfortable in my game. I haven't scored a hundred but 96 in a low-scoring game is worth more than a hundred on a flat pitch. To contribute to the team I need to score runs consistently and I feel I'm just starting to do that again."

Strauss's struggles were largely forgotten in the furore that followed the Trent Bridge defeat, with fingers being pointed hither and thither about England's infantile on-field attitude. "We've seen [the story] do the rounds and we are trying to move on from it," said Strauss, who had been England's leader in the field at the moment the jelly bean saga erupted.

England have closed ranks on the subject this week, and the official team line is now that the sweets were left on the pitch at the drinks break. "It was a situation that came about through a misunderstanding, which probably inflamed it more than it merited," Strauss said. "But the umpires felt it could develop into something nasty and from my point of view I had to tell the guys to calm it down and concentrate on our cricket."

"We've tried not to pay too much attention to it," he added. "These things can become distractions that prevent you playing your best cricket. At the same time, the fact that there's been such a strong reaction means we need to look at how we play our cricket and make sure we're not overstepping any marks. We all recognise that in international cricket it's important we play with intensity and with controlled aggression, but there's also a line there and we have that responsibility not to cross that line."

Come Thursday morning, the only line that Strauss will be concerned about crossing is the one that makes the difference between victory and defeat. He has just two innings left this season to haul himself - and his side - out of an unanticipated slump.

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