Birmingham, Aug 9: Having played eight Test matches for England so far, all-rounder Tim Bresnan has ended up on the winning side every single time he’s taken the field.
"It's just one of those things. I've been very lucky in my Test career and I felt ecstatic after we won in Nottingham," Bresnan said.
Hoping to take his tally to 10 off 10 by the end of the current series against India with two Tests still to be played, he said, "It would be nice to get to 10 Test wins by the end of this series. If we go to Edgbaston and produce the same performance, it's going to be hard for India.”
"But we know how strong they are and there is absolutely no reason for us to get complacent. We've just got to keep doing the basics well, and producing [results] to hold on to our places," he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
Bresnan replaced an injured Chris Tremlett in the second Test match of the ongoing series and scored a valuable 90 runs in the second innings; later that day he claimed a five-for to propel his team to an emphatic win over India.
However, should Tremlett be fit, he will be likely to reclaim his spot in the playing XI in the third Test at Edgbaston.
"When the team finally gets announced it's going to be as interesting for me as everyone else. The selectors have got a nice headache, at least it's nice for them," he said.
"I'm glad it's not me making the decision although I also hope it's not me who is disappointed. It would be hard for me personally, but it's terrific for English cricket," he added.
Elaborating on the problem of plenty that England are facing in the bowling department, Bresnan chose to see it as a positive feature of a side that is keen to stake a claim to the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings.
"[…] We have such strength in depth. Look at Stevie Finn. He's got the highest strike-rate of anyone playing at the minute and he's the youngest bowler to have reached 50 Test wickets. But he can't get into the team right now," Bresnan said contentedly.
Although the 26-year-old was disappointed to have missed out on his first Test hundred at Trent Bridge, he did not suffer any regrets as he was dismissed off a good delivery from Praveen Kumar.
"I'm a proper all-rounder and I really can bat," Bresnan stated.
"As long as you have the mindset of a batsman, why shouldn't you play proper cricket shots? I'd have liked a hundred but I'm not too disappointed with the way I got out. It was a decent delivery,” he said.
"But you know what? I've probably got about 10 scores over 85 in first-class cricket without getting a hundred. At least I do have four centuries as a first-class player. I got 116 for the England Lions against pretty much the same Indian attack we've just faced. But it was a flat wicket at Chelmsford. Trent Bridge was much more challenging, especially on the third evening, when I had to see off the new ball. That's why it's probably my best ever knock," the Yorkshireman admitted.
Often compared to Andrew Flintoff for his all-round abilities, Bresnan said, "Yeah, definitely. Why wouldn't you set yourself high standards? There's no point attacking anything in life and thinking I'll be average at this. That's a poor way of thinking."
"So you have to set yourself targets and strive to be as good as you can be. Freddie was definitely a game-changer and it would be very nice to be thought of in the same bracket as him," he said.
