Strauss searches for cure to run drought

London: England's captain Andrew Strauss is in desperate need of Test runs as the side licks their wounds after the first Test.

When the top six batsmen suffered such a collective malfunction in England's first-Test flop against Pakistan that they could muster only 143 runs for a total of 12 dismissals Graeme Swann scoring as many, 39, in the second innings as Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell managed between them in the match it seems a little harsh to focus on the problems of only two.

But the coach Andy Flower did not duck from the concerns over Strauss and Pietersen when he reflected on the "bit of a shock" England had received in their first match as the top dogs of Test cricket, although he remains confident that both can lead the uphill struggle the team are facing if they are to avoid a first series defeat for almost three years.

For Strauss, a confusing and possibly harsh second-innings dismissal after inconclusive video review, caught behind off an innocuous leg-side delivery from Umar Gul, was further evidence of cricket's sadistic habit of sticking the boot in.

"It's one of those instances where the technology didn't come up with the right decision," said Flower, who sought an explanation from the match referee, Javagal Srinath, during the lunch interval.

But there was no doubt over Strauss's first-innings failure and here he may find some rare common ground with Pietersen, as his own ugly attempt to pull the last ball of Saeed Ajmal's first over of the match was surely as crass a misjudgment as Pietersen's gormless hook to deep square leg when England had already slumped to 25 for two in their battle to save the game.

— Guardian News and Media Ltd