"You can't rely on one man to win a Test match" - Andrew Strauss on England's loss despite Ben Stokes' heroics
Former England captain Andrew Strauss feels the hosts were just not good enough to win the second Ashes 2023 Test at Lord's. Despite Ben Stokes trying his best with an incredible knock of 155, England lost the Test match by 43 runs and are 0-2 down in the series.
Strauss shed light on how good Australia were despite losing both the tosses in the series so far and getting arguably the tougher of the conditions to bat and bowl.
Speaking to Sky Sports Cricket after the game, here's what Andrew Strauss had to say about England's performance in the series so far:
"We saw some incredible performances, none better than Ben Stokes. But truth was that you can't rely on one man to win a Test match. Australia were the better team from 1 to 11 in the first two Tests and that's why they're 2-0 up."
Former England cricketer Eoin Morgan was also present in the discussion and even he weighed in on just how entertaining the series has been so far. He added:
"Never a dull moment with England and Australia playing, throwing absolutely everything they can at each other. There were some strange tactics but they worked and that progressed the game. When you have a series that goes the length that it has and the intensity that it has, it is full entertainment."
England had Australia down but couldn't bury them: Andrew Strauss
Andrew Strauss feels there is nothing wrong with the Bazball approach from England. He reckons that the hosts could have played out some situations better and recalled the time on Day 2 when they were 188/1 but gave the advantage away to the Aussies.
On this, Strauss stated:
"There's absolutely nothing wrong with the approach. I think there were times in this Test where England took a step back and played traditional cricket and that's exactly what you've to do. You have to play the situation. England will regret that they had Australia down but they couldn't bury them and they gave them opportunity to come back in the game. You need to show that ruthlessness if you want to win an Ashes series."
England are now in a do-or-die situation going into the third Test to be played at Headingley, Leeds.