Moores remains positive

Coach Peter Moores insisted England could scrap their way back into the third npower Test at Edgbaston despite a disappointing opening day.

England were all out for only 231 after winning the toss and South Africa will resume tomorrow on 38 for one after talismanic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff prised out Graeme Smith.

Everything had appeared to be going right for England after Michael Vaughan chose to bat first but Andrew Strauss’ hit-wicket dismissal began their decline from 68 with out loss.

Moores said: “We are disappointed after a decent start we didn’t push on but that is what we’ve got and we have got to work with that. Getting Smith out was a start for us to claw our way back into the game.

“You work with what you’ve got and work hard with that because you know you are still very much in a scrap - if we bowl them out tomorrow and bat well they have to bat last on the wicket, which will be real pressure.

Andrew Flintoff has Graeme Smith caught at slip for seven

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“We will say we wanted to get more runs, of course we will.”

Flintoff was left unbeaten on 36, ultimately stranded by mix-ups with James Anderson and Monty Panesar who were both run out.

“The run-outs were disappointing but we expected our top order to get us off to a good start to establish a base,” said Moores. “It was a shame because Fred was starting to look dangerous.

“He played with real authority and calm to start with and was looking to get himself in.

“When we started to lose wickets he was going to start to open up and unfortunately we didn’t see that at the end because he ran out of partners.

“I don’t think he should have taken one and put himself at the other end. Fred wanted to be on strike so he could do what he could do but he made a mistake and that is done.”

Moores added: “We have to pull ourselves tight, get out there tomorrow and scrap hard to get ourselves back into the game.

“International cricketers are always under pressure, that is part of the territory and the fun of the game.”

Paul Collingwood’s poor run with the bat continued as he could only make four before falling to Jacques Kallis.

“He was left out as much because of shape - as we played an extra bowler at Headingley - and we wanted to play a different shape in this game because we thought it was our best team,” said Moores.

“He is playing pretty well in his practice and he has another dig in the game, so he’s got a chance. He’s a tough bloke and he has played well for England over the last 12-18 months.

Andre Nel sends former Essex team-mate Alastiar Cook back to the pavillion for a dogged 76

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“He has had a bad run of scores but we support him because we think he is playing well enough and can come through that. Paul has served England very well in the past and I think will do long into the future.”

England lost three wickets for six runs shortly before lunch, a spell begun by Strauss’ stray boot and also including the departures of Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen to disputed decisions.

“Strauss’ was a bit of a bizarre dismissal - I don’t think he has ever hit wicket before,” Moores added. “There were a couple of tough decisions and suddenly we were behind the eight ball.”

Fast bowler Andre Nel took advantage of Dale Steyn’s broken thumb with three wickets, and admitted: “We got a lucky break with Strauss stepping on his wickets.

“I was about to shout at myself for bowling down the leg-side and then all of a sudden Bouch (Mark Boucher) came running towards me shouting ‘he’s out’, so I was pretty happy.”

All-rounder Kallis also claimed a trio of scalps from the city end as it was the Proteas’ back-up men who inflicted the damage.

“Jacques bowled really well into the wind, it was an unbelievable spell of bowling as it was a real test of your skill from that end,” Nel added. “It is a bit slower from that end against the wind and allowed us to attack from the other.”