Flintoff cannot find any positives in defeat

Jaipur: It was obvious that Andrew Flintoff would be disappointed at having lost the match against Australia after getting off to a bright start.

The inability to cling on to the advantage gained was indeed very upsetting. Yet the England skipper spoke about his team's performance.

Gulf News: Any positives from this defeat?

Flintoff: It was a good start. Strauss and Bell played well. We bowled well too, but in the end we were disappointed. So really, there are no positives to be taken from this match.

Will this defeat have an impact on the Ashes series?

Personally, I don't like an Ashes link to this match. For us this match was another important one-day international which we wanted to win. We tried to win but did not succeed.

So how do you think you would be able to boost your team's morale for the next match?

We came here wanting to win but we have been beaten twice. We are a proud team and we would like to go home with a win as we have an exciting season ahead of us.

Losing to Australia in your very first match as captain must have been a setback?

Not really. It has not affected my confidence and I am not disheartened. But I am disappointed at having lost the match.

Could Harmison's poor form be one of the factors for your defeat?

I don't like to put the blame on any particular player. We, as a team, collectively did not perform well. The pitch wasn't tricky. We take the responsibility collectively on our shoulders. Harmison did try hard. Everyone tries his best but sometimes they don't succeed.

Do you consider your team more of a Test team than a One-day side?

We need to perform according to the situation. We have a long series just ahead of this and with the World cup around we want to do well in One-dayers.

Do you miss Trescothick and Vaughan?

Undoubtedly they are very good players, but I am happy with my present team that I have here.