Mark Butcher column

By Mark Butcher Surrey and England batsman

England may have lost at Lord's but the bowling was pretty good. To bowl Australia out twice is no mean feat.

The problem was the batting - if you get bowled out for under 200 twice you are going to lose, so really the dropped catches were irrelevant.

The one man who exercised his mode of attack and defence very well was Pietersen

On a positive side, Kevin Pietersen played very well on his debut.

And if the other guys get themselves together and get some scores on the board - which they're more than capable of doing - then things will be fine.

At Edgbaston, the ball does swing and it can offer some turn.

Lord's pitches are amongst the quickest in the country nowadays so in comparison Edgbaston will seem quite a bit slower.

It's been a good ground for us and we get good support there.

Traditionally, the first Test of the summer has been at Edgbaston and maybe things would have been easier for England if it had been the same this year.

But you can't use that as an excuse, and England will know they underperformed at Lord's.

Australia will go into the second Test with the same team. Jason Gillespie showed signs that he is returning to his best form and they won't feel any need to change anything.

One interesting issue will be how England's mainly right-handed batsmen play Glenn McGrath.

Pietersen naturally bats more in front of middle-and-off than the others.

People who don't do that as a matter of course can get themselves into trouble and get out lbw if they adopt his method.

England's batsmen will have looked at the areas where McGrath bowls

One thing I would suggest is to bat outside your crease, get close to him and make him alter his length.

It's something players can be a little reluctant to do but I've done it and found it works and so have people from other countries.

The idea is you change the height at which the ball goes past you, so his good length balls are suddenly hitting the middle of the bat rather than the shoulder of the bat.

He's not going to end up bowling half-volleys at you all day but obviously it changes the way he has to bowl and stops him getting into a comfortable rhythm, which he loves.

You have to be selective - it's all about execution against Australia.

You can go out there and be ultra positive and be bowled out for 100 or you can go out there and be ultra negative and be bowled out for 100.

The one man who exercised his mode of attack and defence very well was Pietersen - he scored runs.

The rest of the guys have to play the way they play best and score runs, but their execution has to be better.

There are certain players Duncan Fletcher works with and there are others who prefer to work with other people - it's very much a matter of preference.

But they will have looked at dismissals and looked at areas where McGrath and Shane Warne bowl.

The mindset in itself is not as important as the execution of the shots and the plan.