England likely to play five bowlers at Nottingham
In his latest exclusive diary entry for CricInfo, Alec considers the likely balance of the final England eleven for the Third npower Test against Australia at Trent Bridge
Alec Stewart
31-Jul-2001
In his latest exclusive diary entry for CricInfo, Alec considers the likely balance of the final England eleven for the Third npower Test against Australia at Trent Bridge. England are 2-0 down in the series with three matches remaining.
The Third Test is a game we simply have to win if we're to regain the Ashes. I don't know when anyone last came back from 2-0 down to win a five-Test series, but that's what our aim has to be, and it starts here at Trent Bridge. The selectors have picked a side that they believe can do it, and we've got to make sure that we play to the standard that's required to beat Australia. You want to win any game, but they don't come any more important than this.
The selectors have included Alex Tudor in the squad for the first time in this series, and I know for certain as I travel around with him (he only lives just up the road from me) that he's desperately looking forward to playing in this game. So far he's only played three Test matches over a three-year period. He had a taste of it in Australia; in Perth he impressed with the ball, and then at Edgbaston in 1999 he impressed with the bat as nightwatchman with an unbeaten 99 against New Zealand. Since then he's had some injury problems, and he's now put in some good performances this year despite further injuries. His batting has kicked on; he scored his first first-class hundred this year against Essex, when he and I put on close to 200 together. But his priority at the moment is to take wickets.
From the squad the selectors have picked, I suspect they'll go with the five bowlers this time. But that's something for the captain and selectors to decide. A lot of runs have been scored at Trent Bridge this season, and it's been hard to bowl sides out in county cricket. Hopefully the added variety in our squad will help
I've heard the reports about the memo sent to the Australian team, talking about England hanging on to excuses and Australia having psychological control. As far as I'm concerned that's nothing to do with us. Australia have their strategies and we have ours. In my view the things that happen in the dressing room are private, and that's the way it should remain.
Mike Atherton's in charge again at Trent Bridge. He's an experienced captain, and is looking forward to doing the job again, although he's hoping (as we all are) that Nasser Hussain will be back sooner rather than later. You don't want to miss any game, let alone one in an Ashes series, and it's been very frustrating for Nasser, and for Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan. But injuries will happen, and it's how sides react to adversity that shows their true character.