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| | Wednesday, 3 April, 2002, 04:29 GMT 05:29 UK Hussain praises his men England have battled hard since the Indian tour England spoilt so much of their good work over the course of a long winter's cricket with an imperfect batting display on the final day at Auckland. But captain Nasser Hussain was eager to salute the battling qualities of his side despite seeing them go down to a 78-run defeat to give New Zealand a 1-1 series draw. The tourists slipped to 223 all out chasing a victory target of 312, though at 112-2 before lunch they looked favourites to win. Wednesday's loss means England have failed to win their last four Test series.
But after a long, hard winter which saw the travelling side suffer the tragic loss of Ben Hollioake in a Perth car crash, Hussain thanked his side for keeping their spirits up. At the official presentation, he said: "I'd like to thank my team, some of them aren't here with us. "But the ones that are here, the ones that have gone back and others, I'd like to thank you for five out of the six months we've been away from home. "I've never seen a bunch of lads faced with such difficult times in India and difficult times here - difficult times on and off the field. "I'd like to thank my team for keeping their heads held high." Hussain also hailed the famous 'barmy army' for once again giving England such superb support on tour.
"I'd like to thank all our supporters who have made the journey over from England. "We much appreciate your support on the field," he added. Hussain, who was England's most consistent performer with the bat during the winter, also took time out to congratulate opposite number Stephen Fleming and his team for a deserved win. "I'd just like to congratulate Stephen and his side for winning this Test match," said Hussain. "It's been a close series the last two times we've played against them - they are a tough set of lads to play against." Fleming conceded that England had been the stronger team over the course of the series, after winning the opening encounter and playing all the cricket in the drawn match at Wellington. The Black Caps skipper said: "We're delighted, obviously, with the win, but we look back to the series and I can say that we haven't been tested like that for a long time.
"The limited opportunities we had is testament to what a quality side we were playing. "We had a couple of opportunities this game which we took, which we are obviously delighted with, but the majority of the series didn't go our way. It was tough work." Speaking to reporters later, Hussain said he was not interested "at all" in the ICC Test Championship table. "I'm interested in the efforts of my team, are we improving, are we learning, how we are going to get better, how we're going to win an Ashes series. Technical areas "Tables will come and go, there's about eight or nine tables floating around and I'm only interested in this team. "There are certain technical things... We need more big runs, big hundreds. "The Australians are getting big hundreds, double hundreds, we have to get the 20s and 30s out of our system. "If we are really going to get up and beat sides that's where we've got to improve." | |
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