Headingley Test, Day 3
Saturday, August 24, 2002 That's three bad days in a row now – we haven't got any excuses at all. We've been outbatted, outbowled and outfielded all match, and really we haven't come to the party at all. Now that we've had a bat, we can tell that the wicket is pretty good – though it's a 350 wicket at best, not a 600 one. From start to end we've had the wrong tone – bowled in the wrong areas, dropped catches … although I can tell you, the wicket's now a very fine one to bowl on.

Robert Key had a tough time in the field, although it's his second game and I can't hold it against him. These things happen, and there is no worse feeling than dropping a catch in a Test match. The big screen keeps showing replays, and then you drop another, and another. There's no getting away from it. But he did well to pick himself up – a few of the lads had a word with him at the end, and I told him to forget it – his only job now is to bat. And he did that pretty well.

Most of our batters are in good nick at the moment, so there wasn't any real policy to attack early on. The ball wasn't doing much at first, but then after an hour it started to swing and a bit of uneven bounce crept in … and it span as well. But credit to the Indians – they bowled well, in the right areas, and they made us battle. Vaughan's dismissal was a little loose, and he'd be the first to admit that the ball wasn't there for the drive. Mind you, Agarkar was getting a bit of extra bounce from that end.

Zaheer Khan did encroach on the danger area at times, and I'd have liked the umpires to have steered him away from it – although that was their decision. He can struggle to swing it when he bowls from wider of the crease, but when he does get it to go, he's a different class.

Alec Stewart batted well – with a little luck as he was dropped first ball, which shows that the ground can't be the easiest place to sight the ball – but you don't play that number of Tests without a bit of class about you.

Can we save the follow-on? Well, Hoggie's been batting pretty well lately, but we're still 150-odd runs adrift. To save it, he'll need to bat out of his skin. We certainly can't rely on the weather. We've dug ourselves into this hole, and it's only us who can dig ourselves out again. The pitch is deteriorating rapidly now, and we will have to bat exceptionally, but it's been done before – particularly on this ground – and we can do it again.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Andrew Miller. His thoughts will appear on Wisden.com, other duties permitting, at the end of each day of England's international cricket this summer.

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The damage was done yesterday
We didn't get it right

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