By James Pearson Last updated: 8th July 2008
Strauss - Feeling confident
It's exciting that quite a few of our players play well against quick bowling.
Strauss on first Test
Quotes of the week
Andrew Strauss says England's batsmen will not be intimidated by South Africa's pace attack during the first Test at Lord's on Thursday.
After seeing off New Zealand 2-0 in a Test series earlier this summer, England now come up against the likes of Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn.
The first Test kicks off on Thursday morning from Lord's and Strauss says the team are looking forward to taking on the Proteas' pace attack.
The Middlesex batsman believes against South Africa's aggressive bowling England will have more chances to build a useful first innings total.
"Look, I think it's going to be a different type of cricket to the cricket we played against New Zealand," he told Sky Sports News.
"That was more an attritional type of cricket whereas the South African bowlers will go out there and will look to take wickets a little bit more.
"That provides problems, but that also provides opportunities. There will probably be more scoring opportunities.
"We're going to have to be on our game to take on those quick bowlers. There's no doubt about it.
"I think we're going into the series with our eyes open. I think we know what to expect. A lot of our practice will be tailored towards that.
"It's exciting that quite a few of our players play well against quick bowling. It's not something that intimidates. It excites us and we're looking to get out there on Thursday morning."
Should England win the first Test, it could be a double celebration in the Strauss household as his wife Ruth is due to give birth to their second child some time in the next week.
But despite recent precedents, Strauss intends to remain with England rather than make a dash across London to be at the birth should the news reach him of an impending arrival while he is in Test action.
"My wife is due some time during the Test match, the doctor doesn't feel it's going to come for a week or so but I won't be leaving the field or anything like that," he added.
"If I'm not batting I might nip off but if I'm on the field I'm concentrating on the cricket. I just feel that if I'm going to play the game I owe it to my team-mates to be focused on the game.
"My wife completely understands the situation and hopefully it will work out that she'll do it after the end of play or something like that - if I'm playing I've got to be switched onto the cricket."
| Fixture |
|---|
| Sunday 7th September |
| County Championship - Division One |
| Kent vs Surrey |
| Pro40 - Division One |
| Middlesex vs Nottinghamshire |
| Durham vs Lancashire |
| Pro40 - Division Two |
| Leicestershire vs Northamptonshire |
| Warwickshire vs Essex |
| Women's Series |
| England Women vs India Women |
| Monday 8th September |
| Pro40 - Division Two |
| Glamorgan vs Derbyshire |
| Tuesday 9th September |
| County Championship - Division One |
| Surrey vs Hampshire |
| Somerset vs Durham |
| County Championship - Division Two |
| Northamptonshire vs Essex |
| Result |
|---|
| Saturday 6th September |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Australia vs Bangladesh Australia won by 73 runs. |
| Pro40 - Division One |
| Hampshire vs Worcestershire No Result |
| Thursday 4th September |
| Women's Series |
| England Women vs India Women England Women won by 8 wickets. |
| Wednesday 3rd September |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Australia vs Bangladesh Australia won by 8 wickets. |
| County Championship - Division One |
| Durham vs Lancashire Match Drawn |
| Nottinghamshire vs Somerset Match Drawn |
| Yorkshire vs Sussex Match Drawn |
| County Championship - Division Two |
| Middlesex vs Gloucestershire Match Drawn |
| One Day International Series |
| England vs South Africa No Result |
| Tuesday 2nd September |
| County Championship - Division Two |
| Derbyshire vs Glamorgan Match Drawn |
Bumble says he is embarrassed that the SWALEC Stadium is going to be used for the first Ashes Test.
Bob Willis tells Sky Sports News why a retiring Graeme Hick had such a prolific career.
Sanath Jarasuriya is the only major mover in our Sixes League after a rain-soddened week of cricket.
Mark Ramprakash notched his 103rd first-class century as Surrey reached 220-5 on day three against Kent at Canterbury.
Off-field issues dominated the crucial Championship clash between Kent and Surrey as the rain fell at Canterbury on Friday.
Andrew Flintoff feels Kevin Pietersen is the man to end England's wait for a major one-day international trophy.
Australia completed a 3-0 series whitewash of Bangladesh as they won the third and final one-dayer in Darwin by 73 runs.
Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Duleep Mendis is aiming to persuade his country's best cricketers to tour England next year.