Oval Test, Day 4
Sunday, September 8, 2002 This has been a difficult wicket for bowlers to make an impact on. It's pretty flat, and as I've said before, we've got no real mystery in our bowling attack. That is the one area that Duncan and I simply cannot put right – we can't just click our fingers and conjure up a Shane Warne or a Harbhajan out of thin air.

I'm not in any way being negative about Ash [Giles] and Vaughan – they are orthodox spinners and very good at their job too – but really it is something that the ECB need to sort out. We've played such good cricket for large parts of this summer, but we need now to be able to take the next step and round games off.

Mind you, Vaughny was pretty impressive, though I doubt if he'll ever have a summer quite like this again – I sincerely hope he does. He's batting brilliantly, he's bowling brilliantly, taking his catches as well – he's in the middle of one of those purple patches, and long may it continue.

We were beginning to wonder if Dravid would ever get out – and a run-out was pretty high on our list! He has supreme powers of concentration, like Atherton, and he'll just bat forever. He never gives his wicket away – you always have to earn it, that's for certain.

I don't think we could have attacked any more than we did. This has been a difficult wicket, and third man has been a key position. Not many catches have gone to the slips, and those that have have been to first and second slip. Anything going in the direction of third slip has kept low or not carried. As we saw a few years ago against Sri Lanka, if you overattack on occasions like this, and they rattle along at four or five runs an over, then you'll soon be in serious trouble. As it was, we bowled them out for less than we managed, which was a great effort.

Andrew Caddick had a good day, although I'm sick of backing Caddy up – he always seems to be the favourite to be nailed in the press, but the guy has got 220 Test wickets and keeps proving everyone wrong. He's getting on a bit now – at 33 he's not going to be tearing in at 90mph – and his peaks and troughs are going to be that little bit steeper, but he's still a useful competitor.

I had a hunch that India might have declared at tea, although given the way we've been batting, they would have been a little worried if we'd got off to a flyer and ended up putting them back in. Either way, my only concern was to have a first-innings lead. I would have been very annoyed if they'd passed our total, even by one run.

There's been a lot of talk about my Sunday Telegraph column, and to be honest, that line about this Test being a "bridge too far" was a bit of poetic licence from my ghost. I was speaking to him last night, when I was tired and fed up, and it just came across like that. Still, there are one or two mindgames going on out there as well – we don't really know what line the Indians will take tomorrow. We'll have to wait and see.

There is no doubt, however, that this season has taken its toll. In all honesty, I have never felt so tired as I do at the moment, and I know I can speak for half of my team, particularly the Caddicks, the Vaughans, the Hoggards, who've all been playing in both forms of the game. Mentally, we are absolutely gone, and frankly it's ridiculous. There is far, far too much international cricket going on at the moment, and something is going to have to give.

If I was just a player, then I'd have to admit a break during the Champions Trophy would be very enticing. But I'm England captain, and the job is far too important to do willy-nilly, passing it along the line saying "I'll do this, but I won't do that …" It's my job and I just have to get on with it.

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.

More Nasser Hussain
There's not a lot in the pitch (Day 2)
Almost perfect (Day 1)

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