Hussain reserves greatest praise for bowlers

England's comprehensive victory in the first test against India at Lord's was a result of an inexperienced bowling attack sticking to a game plan, captain Nasser Hussain said on Monday.

Hussain was named man-of-the-match for his first innings 155 which provided the foundation for a total of 487 and ultimately their 170-run victory on Monday. India, set 568 to win, were dismissed for 397 in the afternoon session of the final day with Ajit Agarkar scoring an unbeaten maiden Test century.

At a news conference following the victory ceremony, Hussain preferred to give credit to the bowlers, rather than the three players who scored centuries for England. Michael Vaughan and John Crawley both scored exactly a hundred in England's second innings.

"It was a satisfying Test match," he said. "I think that's about as well as that side can play. It was a very, very good Lord's wicket.

"Credit should go to the bowlers with 20 wickets on that wicket against that batting lineup," he said. "As we saw today they (India) can all bat.

"All credit to that young attack for coming in and getting 20 wickets. It was a great effort. It only needed one or two people to get in today and I think 560 could have been a possibility."

England took the field without their two leading strike bowlers Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick, as well as Alex Tudor who made a successful return to the Test arena in the 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka.

In their absence England gave a first cap to Glamorgan's Simon Jones who took four wickets and bowled consistently fast.

IMPRESSIVE JONES

Hussain said Jones had impressed his team mates with everything he did. "The most impressive thing about his bowling is his ability to put the ball in the right area," Hussain said. "He bowled the ball in the right area."

The England skipper also paid tribute to Matthew Hoggard, England's most successful bowler in the match with seven wickets. "Matthew bowled beautifully," he said. "He could easily have been man-of-the-match."

Hussain added that Andy Flintoff, who had also bowled fast and straight in both innings, had a slight groin strain while Jones had a strained side but said neither injury was serious.

India captain Sourav Ganguly said his team had come back before to win Tests and series.

"Obviously England have played well but we believe if we play well we have a chance of winning," he said.

Ganguly defended the decision to omit off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. "We never thought that wicket at Lord's would spin," he said. "It's difficult for a captain when you have two world class spinners. The person who would have been left out was Ajit, who scored a hundred."

He also said he was not worried about the form of his premier batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who was dismissed cheaply in both innings.

"One Test failure doesn't matter," Ganguly said. "It will make him all the more determined to score runs in the next match."

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