Oval Test, Day 5, Close
Monday, August 27, 2001

A fifth-day wicket, with Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath coming at us - it was always going to be tough. They gave us the fullest examination possible, and unfortunately we came up short. I have to say though, I thought the pitch was an excellent Test match track, and we can have no complaints about how it played. There was a bit of rain yesterday which might have freshened it up for the seamers, but it was excellent, relentless cricket from the Australian side that beat us. Yes, Trescothick got one that exploded early on, but that was more down to the dryness of the surface than anything else.

We can take some positives out of this series, but as usual it was only after the Ashes had been decided that we came out and played the way we know we can. I was speaking to some of the Australian team in the dressing room afterwards, and they were impressed by the improvement we've shown, both here and at Headingley. And I am proud of my team. It's not often you score 600 runs in a Test and still end up on the losing side.

But I'd like to look at this series as a one-off - Australia are on a different level, they've won something like 20 of their last 23 matches, and we needed to be at the top of our game to match them. As it is, we must go back to basics now, and remember how we've competed in recent months against sides like Pakistan and Sri Lanka. We've got some tough series ahead of us, but we know we can win them.

There's no doubt though, that the winter is a huge challenge. India away is THE most difficult tour of all, as Australia themselves found out, and from a cricketing point of view I'd sooner take on the Aussies in Australia. The withdrawal of some of our key players makes it a double whammy as far as I'm concerned. We will miss Darren Gough more than anybody. I've never made any secret of the fact that I love having Goughie in my side. I'm his biggest fan and he's stuck by me and supported me through some difficult times. But he has made a career decision, based on his family and the need for rest, and I will abide by that.

But the absence of some old faces creates a window of opportunity. It's time for someone else to step forward and take their chance.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Andrew Miller

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