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The optimist England can bounce back, says Atherton
NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) -- Skipper Michael Atherton said England still had faith in its ability and believed the side could overcome its bad start against Australia in the Ashes cricket series. But its preparations for the third test at Trent Bridge suffered more injury blows Wednesday with the withdrawal of fast bowler Chris Silverwood with a back injury. Pace bowler Alex Tudor is also suffering from stiffness and his situation will be looked at again before the toss Thursday. England is already without captain Nasser Hussain, who is recovering from a broken finger and batsman Graham Thorpe, who has a broken bone in his hand. A weakened England must win this test to stop Australia's relentless pursuit to win a record seventh Ashes series in a row. Australia has taken control of the five test series with lopsided wins at Edgbaston and Lord's to take a 2-0 lead. Stand-in captain Atherton is looking for a revival of spirit and urged his players to draw inspiration from England's four straight series victories before the Ashes began. England rediscovered the winning habit against Zimbabwe, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It also drew a two two-test series against Pakistan. Then Australia arrived. England lost every match of the one-day series, which also included Pakistan, and the first two Ashes tests. "I think we've shown a lot of character, shown a lot of spirit in difficult circumstances, we've come back from behind on a couple of occasions," Atherton said. "They've (Australia) had the upper hand," Atherton said. "Psychologically, I don't think so. The players retain a faith in our team. We've showed character and resilience, and we have faith in the team and each other to do that." Atherton conceded England had found itself in a difficult situation largely due to its inability and experience. "It's been a tough couple of tests," Atherton said. "We've recognized we've not played as well as we would have liked to have done. We recognize Australia has played pretty well as well. We obviously got to focus on the area we've got to improve -- fielding is one."
England has been let down by poor catching, dropping 13, many of which let Australia off the hook at crucial stages. Atherton, the only player in the current side who has played in England's Ashes wins, recalled how important it was to grab crucial moments. "In every series and every game we've had small opportunities," he said. "Games like Adelaide in '95 we were really behind the eight ball for much of the game but managed to take a small window of opportunity and I think in these two games (just gone) we've had those opportunities as well. That's the key for us, to take that opportunity." England will play five bowlers for the first time including a four-man pace attack to bowl Australia out on a benign Trent Bridge pitch. Atherton also criticized his side's batting and said England hadn't batted long enough to put pressure on Australia. "You've got to get the balance right between showing an aggressive intent and putting a high price on your wicket," Atherton said. "Clearly batting for 50 or 60 overs is not long enough to post a decent score, but I still think you've got to go out there with a positive and aggressive intent and be prepared to put the bad ball away. "The Australians set a very aggressive field at the start so there are plenty of gaps there, if you get bat on ball you're going to get value for your shots." On the other hand, Australia is mindful of complacency after a rare defeat to county side Hampshire this week. "We ended up winning convincingly because that's our strength," Waugh said of the first two tests. "When we get on top we tend not to let it slip. That's been their mistake. They've given us the impetus to get in front of them. They're still playing reasonable cricket. It's not as devastating as people are saying. "They're still a pretty good cricket side. There's no way we can play to 80 percent of our ability and beat them. We've got to play good cricket." Waugh pointed out Australia's experience in winning had made it a tough and battle-hardened outfit. Under his captaincy, Australia has won 19 tests and lost just five since March 1999. "You get to certain moments in the game and you know they're crucial," Waugh said. "It's how you react to those moments that sets up the test match. We're pretty relaxed. Once you've done it a few times you're more confident in what you can do. "You've got to get that first breakthrough to do it. It's hard against a side like us because we're always coming at them." England (from): Michael Atherton (captain), Usman Afzaal, Mark Butcher, Andrew Caddick, Robert Croft, Darren Gough, Mark Ramprakash, Chris Silverwood, Alec Stewart (wicketkeeper), Marcus Trescothick, Alex Tudor, Ian Ward, Craig White. Australia: Michael Slater, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh (captain), Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath. Umpires: John Hampshire (England) and Srini Venkataraghavan (India). Television umpire: David Constant. Match referee: Talat Ali (Pakistan).
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