By Mark Richardson New Zealand batsman in Nottingham

Without a doubt the last few days have been some of the worst I can remember in my Test career.

For us this series was the big one. To repeat the feats of those that toured here in 1999 has been the goal for most of us for quite some time.

And thus to crash to 2-0 down after two Tests with the series lost has really hurt. What really stings is the fact that we never should be in this situation.

Getting out on the fourth evening - a moment of despair

We are a better team than we have shown, especially over the last few days of the last Test match.

We had big raps coming into this series and have failed miserably to live up to them.

We are a team that strives for consistency, something that our public value from its sports teams, and yet in this series we have been so up and down (more downs than ups).

As we sit here in Nottingham, all a bit sheepish about what has just passed, we could just blow it off as just a bad couple of days.

However an international athlete, while needing to remain positive, must also face up to reality.

The reality is that with the exception of Leicestershire, who were very weak anyway, we have been out bowled in all games.

Our skill level with the ball has been way too low to compete at this level.

We are not only bowling far too many loose balls but we are bowling them at least 10 miles an hour slower than our opposition.

The last innings of the Lord's Test and both innings of the Headingley Test highlighted this with quite devastating results.

Faced with this reality we have a real struggle to regain some pride from the last Test of the series.

Daniel Vettori is likely to miss the match with a pulled hamstring

While all are disappointed we must avoid the temptation to take the easy out and point the finger at the lack of performance from those around us.

The batsmen blaming the bowlers and the bowlers blaming the batters is an all-too-common occurrence in cricket teams who are under performing and is a real catalyst for a downward spiral.

Rather we must face the situation head on.

Yes we are missing our spearhead Shane Bond, yes our other quicks are out of form and down on confidence and yes we are probably without a spinner now that Dan [Daniel Vettori] has a dodgy leg.

But we are still a team.

A good team covers and shelters those that are struggling under the promise that they return the favour in better times.

What does this mean for the coming challenge? It may mean a dogged determination to get a few more runs so our boys with the ball have more to play with.

It may mean a lift in the fielding, creating an upbeat atmosphere, enjoying the challenge of restricting some very good batsmen.

It may mean our tail gutsing it out against the horrors of Harmison for some rearguard action.