Auckland Test, Day 5
Wednesday, April 3, 2002

That was a disappointing way to finish a hard tour and a long winter. We had them worried when we were 120 for 2 – Butch and I were going well, it was like Headingley last year all over again – but then they nipped in with three quick wickets and we were struggling from then on.

Obviously the final result was disappointing, but the way we went about things today was good. I said before the start that we had to be positive, that there was no point in going out there and pushing and prodding. And we scored at a run a minute in that first long session, which set us up with a chance of victory.

No-one gave his wicket away, but in the end we paid a heavy price for that wayward two hours in their first innings, which helped them get the runs they needed for a lead of about 40. The other key period was that short spell at the end of the third day, when we were batting with the shadows over the pitch and lost three quick wickets. Those shortish spells proved vital in the end.

It was a pitch where you could score quickly – there were a lot of floaty little half-volleys that got hit for four. It was disappointing for us that the wicket continued to misbehave. It played all right for most of the morning, actually, then all of a sudden it started exploding. Every now and then a ball did a lot, and if that one had your name on it you were gone – that's what happened to Butcher and Ramprakash. Butch's wicket was the key one, I suppose. The ball bounced steeply, and took the shoulder of the bat. You don't expect that sort of thing on the last day on any wicket.

I was very pleased with the way I played – in fact I've been pretty happy with my form since I made a hundred at Kandy last winter. I enjoy playing on spicy wickets, it's more of a challenge. It's just a shame I couldn't go on today and make the big hundred we needed.

Overall I couldn't have asked for more from the team over the winter. It's been a long haul – Zimbabwe, three hard months in India, and now New Zealand – and the boys have been giving me absolute heaps of effort all the time. The effort has been fantastic. There have been various incidents that haven't helped us, most obviously the death of Ben Hollioake, but everyone has stuck at it brilliantly. I've been pleased with the youngsters – people like Flintoff and Hoggard have made great strides.

It's just a shame we didn't win either Test series. I think we should have won at Bangalore, so we should at least have drawn the one in India, and now we've drawn this one after making most of the running in the first two matches. That's quite a price to pay for a couple of bad sessions.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Steven Lynch. His thoughts appear on Wisden.com, other duties permitting, at the end of each day of international cricket that England play.

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