Mohali Test, Day 2
Tuesday, December 4, 2001

At the start of the day, I'd have settled for the runs we gave away today, but not for only taking two wickets. It's a shame we didn't get them 230 for 5 and obviously we're up against it now. I expect it to be a long day in the field tomorrow, and it'll be hard work from now on in.

But I was very pleased with the way the boys bowled today. I really can't fault their effort or their attitude.

No-one drops catches on purpose, so I don't get angry when it happens. We've all done it at some time. It's disappointing, especially when we worked so hard to build the pressure on them, but it just means we have to work even harder.

At the start of play I reminded the boys that it was still a pretty good wicket and we had to keep our discipline. It's important that you bowl to a plan – you can't just wander out there and hope to keep it tight. We've just got to be as good as we can be – and today we were with the ball, in these conditions.

For the first five and a half hours we bowled really well, with purpose and direction, and I felt we restricted them very well. Then in that last half hour we probably lost a little focus. But they have the sort of players who will hammer you all round the wicket if you drift at all – so if we hadn't kept our focus so well for most of the day they'd be up to 400 by now.

I gave the second new ball to Andy Flintoff over Matthew Hoggard because Hoggy had bowled late on in the day and put in a lot of overs. If I was Sachin Tendulkar (which, unfortunately, I'm not) I wouldn't want to see big Freddie Flintoff charging in with the light fading and eight overs to go. I always try and do what I'd like least if I was batting.

I've been very pleased with Flintoff both on and off the field, and I have been since Zimbabwe. He's bowled well and bowled quickly, he's thinking about his cricket and he's matured a great deal. I'm a big fan of his.

It was a nice moment for the two uni boys, Dawson and Foster, today, combining to get their first Test wicket each. It's important not to compare them to the people they are replacing when they were at the peak of their careers. You have to compare them to, say Alec Stewart or John Emburey when they first started playing as these lads are now. And if you do that, these boys compare very favourably.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Camilla Rossiter. His thoughts will appear on Wisden.com throughout the Test and one-day series.

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