Out-of-form England captain Andrew Strauss confident his head will not be served up on a platter Strauss has suffered losses of form before and is widely acknowledged to have saved his career with a second-innings 177 against New Zealand in Napier four years ago. He is now at a stage when there will be no more second chances. The end will mean the end. But at the moment his place is not under threat and in the warm-up matches before the first Test he looked to be timing the ball. His opening partner, Alastair Cook, was loyal in saying on Monday he felt Strauss was playing well and the captain was phlegmatic while discussing his form on Tuesday. "Not getting runs in the last game was disappointing for me but having been around the Test-match scene for a while now I know form ebbs and flows and one innings can completely change both your perspective and others" perspective in how well you're playing," Strauss said. So I'm not overly fussed about it but I'm conscious it's important as a captain you lead from the front with regards to scoring runs. As an opening batsman it can be challenging at times but all you can do is accept the challenge and make sure you prepare yourself properly and when you get in a position to score a big hundred you do that. That's probably where I've let myself down a bit a little over the last year or so is when I've got to 50 or 60 I've got out rather than gone on. I appreciate Alastair's comments. I do think I've been hitting the ball well and hopefully that means there's a nice recipe in place to go on and get a big score. Strauss prepared for the tour by breaking up his five-month break from cricket with a trip to India with the performance squad in December. It was a chance to work on pitches in the subcontinent, a place where the low, slow bounce does not suit his game of cutting and pulling. In Dubai he was out playing an ugly carve in the first innings before he was caught down the leg side in the second, a dismissal that should have been overturned on review but bad luck and bad form are often interchangeable for batsmen. "I think maybe when you're young and naive you're always looking for that magic answer so you'll be changing your technique, you'll be trying different things in the nets," Strauss said. I think when you're a bit older you realise the best thing to do is to keep everything the same, keep your preparation the same, don't have too many concerns about your technique and make sure you watch the ball. I think that's the best recipe for doing well but it's always a challenge mentally. Anyone who is under any illusion that Test-match cricket gets any easier as you get older is wrong, it's always tough but I suppose that's why they call it Test cricket.