It’s funny how your luck can turn around in this game
Mark Butcher10-Jul-2001It’s funny how your luck can turn around in this game. The season before this one I had a few personal problems, which affected my enjoyment of the game and, in turn, that affected my life so I just wondered whether it was all worth it. Then, around Christmas time, I got it all clear in my head. The problem was not with the cricket but with me, and I needed to sort a few things out. Once that happened I was able to get back to enjoying the game again.It might appear that it was just a case of getting back into form, waiting for an injury or two to present the opportunity and then walking back into the Test team. There was a bit more to it than that! It involved a lot of hard work. I was at the position where I think my game had stagnated and I’d not pushed on as I would have liked. So I spent three months before the start of the season with my father working on a few technical things to get everything into shape for the new campaign.Having got my opportunity, I was generally pleased with the way things went at Edgbaston. I felt the little changes I’d made to technique with regards to my grip and stance stood up to the pressures of Test cricket. There is always a danger in these circumstances that you go back to your old ways, but I didn’t feel the need to do that, so it was very satisfying.It was disappointing not to have gone on to a bigger score, because there is not always an opportunity to get in against those guys and I did it twice. There are still improvements to be made in that respect, but generally I was pretty happy. I would like to think that at least the Australians got me out rather than me giving my wicket away, but then you do get a lot of potentially wicket-taking balls in Test cricket. I was unfortunate in that I attracted two of them.At least I produced a few of my own, even if not all my wickets came from great deliveries. But they did swing, and you can ask Ian Botham about the value of those! To be fair, I considered that the ball might move in those conditions and so I could do some sort of job, even if it was just to bowl a few maidens. I was pretty happy when they started going to hand.I bowled one over earlier and the ball did swing, so I was in Nasser’s ear for most of the day telling him that if nothing else was working I was prepared to give it a go. As it turned out, with the weather giving us time off the park, the main bowlers could keep going longer. That might have been considered a good thing, but had it not been for a dropped catch off my own bowling, I could have finished with 5 for 20. I’m not sure what Darren Gough and Andy Caddick would have had to say about that!A couple of the wicket-taking balls were a bit wide of off-stump, but that’s where the fielders were so there was something of a plan to it. But I was pleased with the balls to Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie. They were proper bowler’s dismissals.What was frustrating was the fact that I’ve been looking on while the England boys have been producing great results. Then, as soon as I got back into the team, we suffered a heavy defeat. I hope it’s just a coincidence.Having had a chance to look at them close up, these Australians are a formidable outfit. One thing is for sure, with the attitude they have, they are going to give you chances of beating them. I think they gave us several chances to get back into the game or even take it away from them. Unfortunately we weren’t on our game enough to take them.Steve Waugh makes his strategy very public; he want his side to be aggressive in their cricket, hit a particular run rate, and that sort of thing. No matter how good a side is, there are going to be opportunities out there for the opposition if they’re looking to do that sort of thing. We just need to be sharper and grasp those little moments in the game that are potential turning points, switch on and take those chances.I know some people have suggested that, if Nasser Hussain is out of the next Test, I might be the man to take over and try to take the opportunities I have just spoken about. To be honest, I wouldn’t be very happy about that. I might have been a little bit naïve the last time I took it, not realising what I was letting myself in for. Being England captain does not hold too many good memories for me, and at this stage in my career and life I just want to enjoy myself. It might be an entirely different set-up now from when I did captain the team, and a much better one, but I think I could do without such distractions.Before the Lord’s Test, we at Surrey have another big occasion with the Benson and Hedges final against Gloucestershire. The last time we were at Lord’s was 1997 when Ben Hollioake played a magnificent innings in the final and I wasn’t required to bat, so it would be nice to make a contribution this time.Despite Gloucestershire’s fantastic record of winning on the last four Lord’s finals we think we have a very good chance of halting their run. However, we’ll have to be very wary of Gloucestershire because they’re successful in this sort of cricket, have a good game plan and stick to it well. We’ll have to play very, very good cricket in order to beat them.They might not have individual stars, but I think one-day cricket is suited to that sort of approach. It is a real team effort that more often than not results in you winning the game, especially in domestic one-day cricket.We would like to ensure another trophy now. We’re bottom of the Norwich Union League where we got off to a bad start and haven’t improved much. We managed to just cling on in the CricInfo Championship recently to maintain our hopes of retaining the title. We might be some way off a third title, but we have to play leaders Yorkshire twice, and we do have Saqlain Mushtaq back and he makes a huge difference. Without a defeat, we think we have a late run in us.All in all, there’s every prospect of some good times to come at Lord’s in the next few days. Who knows, perhaps we’ll get allocated the home dressing room at Lord’s for the Benson and Hedges final on Saturday and I might be able to leave my kit there, ready for the following Thursday.