Divided side ripe for conquering England's last Ashes-winning captain Andrew Strauss is surprised the Australian squad has been split up over the past week, saying they could only be galvanised after the heavy defeat at Lord's "if everyone is together." While the bulk of the Australian squad has been on England's south coast for the three-day tour game against Sussex that wound up on Sunday, openers Shane Watson and Chris Rogers as well as paceman Peter Siddle, remained in London to prepare for Thursday's third Test at Old Trafford. Strauss, comparing Australia's predicament to that of the England touring party that lost 5-0 in 2006-07, argued it was a time for Michael Clarke's men to pull together, saying they could use the Lord's defeat as a "watershed" moment or "unravel completely." "Our team environment suffered terribly after the losing the second Test at Adelaide," Strauss wrote in The Sunday Times. Players retreated into corners, people started following their own agendas and the 'blame game' started in earnest. Australia cannot afford to fall into the same trap now. The match at Hove provided few definitive answers as to the make-up of the Australian bowling attack in Manchester. Jackson Bird's line and length made him the standout on day two - he took two wickets, and would have had a third but for a dropped catch - and Mitchell Starc grabbed a second wicket of his own early on day three. Of the spinners neither Nathan Lyon or Ashton Agar had made overly convincing statements, although Lyon would have had back-up England batsman James Taylor caught on 90 on Sunday had he not been put down in the deep - by Agar. Lyon broke through just before lunch, however, when he trapped wicketkeeper Callum Jackson lbw. Taylor reached three figures before the break, and was unbeaten on 112 with Sussex 7-351 and headed for a draw. Bird's Test audition, meanwhile, to fill the vacant place in the side left by the injured James Pattinson comes a year after the Ashes reconnaissance mission that was the Australia A tour of England last year. On the evidence, he learnt plenty from that experience.