England in SA
Strauss happy to share
2010-01-18 09:04
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Christo BuchnerJohannesburg – England cricket captain Andrew Strauss believes his players demonstrated their fighting spirit and character in the drawn Test series with South Africa.
England on Saturday lost the fourth and last Test by an innings and 74 runs and shared the series 1-1.
“I believe this is a more difficult series to win than the Ashes against Australia. That is why I’m delighted that we could share it, even though we are disappointed that we lost at the Wanderers,” said Strauss.
“It has been one of the most enjoyable tours I have been on and we had a lot of fun. I believe we’ll all carry wonderful memories about what we experienced here the past nine weeks.”
Strauss added that he and his team were not good enough to win the series.
“We’re not clinical and consistent enough yet. Only three of our seven batsmen had a good series and did their bit. With four of us not up to standard, we could not really expect to win the series,” he said.
Kevin Pietersen was one of the big disappointments.
“He’s a quality player and I believe he will regain his best form soon,” said Strauss.
As far as the controversial referral system goes, he believes there were positives and overall it helped bring about more correct decisions.
“There are still obvious shortcomings that need to be ironed out,” he said.
South African captain Graeme Smith also believes there is more than enough merit in the referral system, but like Strauss believes it needs to be ironed out to make it more effective.