England Don't Like Taste of Defeat

London: England captain Andrew Strauss defended his bowlers and criticized his batsmen after suddenly finding himself in a contest in the series against Pakistan after losing the third test by four wickets on Saturday.

England leads thmatch so we have to take it on the chin and move on.

Although England opener Alastair Cook came into the match with his place in jeopardy, he ended a run of eight test innings without reaching 30 by scoring 110 in the second innings on Friday. His fellow batsmen though are still struggling.

Only Jonathan Trott (42.96) and Eoin Morgan (35) are averaging above 30 in the series. Paul Collingwood is averaging 23.80, Cook 26.16, Kevin Pietersen 28 and Strauss 28.40.

Pakistan captain Salman Butt agreed with a suggestion that England's batting is vulnerable.

"Yes, the results show that, but I give a lot of credit to our bowlers," Butt said. "Collapses do happen but there is always a reason."

Butt also suggested that England's bowling attack may struggle in the Ashes series that starts in Brisbane on Nov. 25 because it won't be assisted so much by swinging conditions. Strauss, though, was reluctant to criticize his bowlers.

"I thought our bowlers did an outstanding job in the first innings to bowl Pakistan out (for 308) when the wicket was at its best," he said.

"You are never going to go through test matches taking wickets all the time. You just need to keep things tight during times when you are not taking wickets and I thought our bowlers did that well."

In the meantime, Strauss expressed his satisfaction that his opening partner and vice-captain Cook was able to put his poor form behind him.

"He got himself into that position where he felt he had to prove himself as there was a hell of a lot of attention on him. I have been in that position myself and it is a test of character as to whether you can perform when the pressure is on most.

I thought he showed great determination and skill. We always had confidence that he would come through and thankfully he did.