Thaindian News

London, Aug.27 (ANI): England batting coach Graham Gooch has dismissed suggestions that captain Andrew Strauss is struggling with the bat and is also confident about Kevin Pietersen rediscovering his form.

Some have also criticised Strauss for his captaincy in a series, but Gooch has no such concerns.

“I haven’t seen anything get to him. I think he’s captained the side really well. With every batsman, if you don’t score runs, you can’t be completely happy,” Sky Sports quoted Gooch, as saying.

Gooch also backed Strauss to get back in the runs soon.

“He is not out of form. What happened here today and at The Oval … I’ve been there … you are vulnerable if you get a good ball and your judgement is not spot on. In the last two Tests, he’s been out too early to say his game is not working. But confidence only comes from spending time at the crease,” the former England captain said.

On Pietersen, Gooch said: “He’s got to transfer the way he prepares and practises into the middle. Obviously he’s desperate to make a score, like any player. But you’ve got to get the balance between attack and defence, what I call how you manage the batting.”"You get confidence from scoring runs in the middle. That is an important part of feeling good as a player. But the modern itinerary of international cricket doesn’t quite allow the number of games that it did in the past,” he added.

“Kevin’s situation with Hampshire is between him and them. But ideally, you’d like to be playing some sort of cricket at some stage - because you need that rhythm,” Gooch said. (ANI)