Oval Test, Day 2
Friday, September 6, 2002 That wasn't quite as good a day as yesterday, although overall we can't be too disappointed with a total of 515 and a quick wicket, we'd have settled for that after wining the toss. But India bowled well today - they were very disciplined, and swung the ball. There was a lot of cloud cover and they took advantage of the conditions and used them well.

The pitch is still pretty good for batting, there's not a lot in it to be honest. There's more grass on it than there normally is at The Oval, and it's holding together pretty well. There was a bit of rough early on yesterday, but that was really only the top layer of grass coming off. There is one hole where there's something for the offspinner to aim at, and maybe tomorrow Ashley [Giles] might be able to hit that from over the wicket. He had a few overs tonight, but didn't get much turn. The ball was a bit new, though. We need it to turn a little, otherwise we're going to have a lot of trouble taking 20 wickets.

Mick [Vaughan] will have a bit of a trundle tomorrow as well. All the bowlers will, I think - it's likely to take a long time to bowl them out, it won't be an easy job. We'll have to be patient.

There's a few injuries in the team at the moment, and the main priority is to get the walking wounded through the next three days. We've already made a few changes in the ICC side, and we'll have to see who gets through the next few days here. There's Trescothick with his thumb, and Vaughan and Butcher have got knee trouble. And my back's pretty stiff as well!

All that meant that we had a rather strange-looking slip cordon when they started batting - Butcher, Cork, Giles. Butch has fielded there before, and Giles has been catching well in practice, so we gave him a go there. Cork has been fielding there for his county. That wasn't a real gamble. He's an accomplished slip fielder, and he caught the one that came his way. Dom's a whole-hearted tryer - that's why we picked him for this game. He got some runs, he bowled pretty well, and he got a catch. He's determined to do well, and he's taken his chance.

I was a bit disappointed with my innings. I was trying to get my head down, and they bowled well to me, in the right areas - and then along came what I thought was a half-volley from Bangar, and I went after it and got an edge. It flew quite quickly to second slip, where Laxman juggled it a bit but hung on. Shame he didn't juggle it a bit more and drop it, really ...

Nasser Hussain was talking to Steven Lynch. 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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