Strauss remains cautious despite Windies mauling
ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss insisted he won’t be getting too carried away despite his side’s crushing defeat of the West Indies.
Strauss led his side to a comprehensive innings and 83-run victory over the Windies in the second Test at Durham yesterday to clinch a 2-0 series success.
Victory ensured England exacted revenge over the Windies for the series defeat earlier in the year, but with a much more competitive Ashes series against the Australians to come later this summer, the skipper was keeping his feet firmly on the ground.
“We came back to England after the West Indies very keen to make amends for what went on out there,” Strauss said. “We knew the conditions would help us a little bit more over here but I think the way we played, and how clinical we were in those two Test matches bodes pretty well for what’s to come.
“We’re delighted with what’s gone on, but I think we realise we’ve still got further to go as a side and we’re not going to get carried away with it.”
Needing seven West Indian wickets for victory, Strauss had the luxury of turning to an in-form seam attack, which used the friendly conditions to full effect, limiting the Windies to just 61 runs on the final day.
Naturally, James Anderson earned most of the plaudits with figures of 4-38 to add to his five-wicket haul in the first innings, but it was Tim Bresnan, who also shone in front of his home crowd, trapping Brendan Nash for his first England wicket in his second Test, then adding the scalps of Damesh Ramdin and Fidel Edwards for well-deserved figures of 3-45.
“With Tim, we all wanted him to get off the mark there,” Strauss went on. “He had a good spell today and swung it nicely. You could see he was relieved to get the first one and then a couple more as well.
“Jimmy was outstanding. The way he’s controlling the swinging ball at the moment is as good as anyone in world cricket. It’s fantastic to see him developing as a player and I’m sure there’s a lot more to come from him.”