Headingley Test, Day 3
Saturday, August 18, 2001 Not the best of starts to the day. One of us not-out boys should have gone on to make a century, but in the event neither of us reached 50. I was disappointed to get out early on – a bit of a grubber, that one – and Butch's run-out didn't exactly help, but after that I thought we battled extremely well.

Stewart and Ramprakash did the right thing and looked to be positive. You can't sit back on a pitch like this. It's getting a bit up and down now, and sooner or later you're going to get one with your name on it. But 309 in those conditions – and against that attack – was a pretty good effort.

But when you're 150 in arrears against the Australians you've got to take your chances. Dropped catches have been the story of our summer. It was an extremely sharp chance to Athers, but he'll be disappointed not to have clung on.

The two-paced nature of the pitch has been a real problem for the slips this Test. Butch came up to me at the end of that over to say he couldn't work it out. If you stand too deep the nicks won't reach you, but if you're too close and the ball hits a crack, then it's at you at 90mph, especially when Ponting goes at it hard. But I told the boys I'd sooner see them make the chance and grass it, than stand too deep and not put themselves in the frame.

Perhaps we bowled a little short this evening, but I thought Goughie was magnificent – his best spell of the series. If they'd been 20-odd for 2 then it might have been a different story, but we didn't get enough balls in the right places. You're always under the microscope against these Australians, and we won't always be able to bowl like Glenn McGrath. He's the best in the world, and today he showed why.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Andrew Miller

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