Andrew Strauss has so much to learn to become a great skipper

Strauss has many qualities as a captain. I think people respect him thoroughly and follow him, he is good at handing out stern words when he needs to and he gives honest assessments of things. But I don't think he knows that much about bowling.

At times, his bowlers get away with things and get what they want from Andrew, without thinking it through properly. For example, why on earth was there so often a deep square-leg in place when Pakistan were batting at The Brit Insurance Oval?

It was not a pitch for bowling short on, and if you deliver a bad ball, you're going to give away four runs anyway. Why not put a fielder in a position for where you're trying to bowl and control the game that way?

Tactically, Strauss still has a lot to learn and his captaincy on the final day at The Oval - when Pakistan chased 148 to win and make it 2-1 to England in the series - was awful.

With a relatively small target on the board and with Pakistan's reputation for choking in run chases, England had to do what they do well: bowl with control, to tight fields and really put the pressure on.

Instead, we had Jimmy Anderson bowling around the wicket to left-handed batsman. I know he got Imran Farhat out that way earlier in the series but it is such an unlikely dismissal. You need to bowl an absolute jaffa to make it come off.

There were some very odd things going on and some strange field placings, so let's not forget that Strauss hasn't been captain for that long.

I've seen him talking to lots of people off the field, which is a good thing but he often seems a bit behind the pace to me. I know it's easy from the commentary box but often, you will say that a change in the field should be made, and an over later, Andrew makes it.

Of course, we are detached from the situation while Andrew is in the thick of it but the skill of a good captain is to be up to speed down there on the park and Strauss is lagging behind a little bit.

What was striking about Pakistan's victory last weekend was that it had been on the cards for the whole series. England's batting has clearly been weak but Pakistan have obliged by dropping loads of catches and then batting poorly themselves.

There are areas of the team that look vulnerable and I would hope that by the time England arrive in Australia in November, players will tune in and focus - and they will look a sharper unit than they do at the moment.

Hopefully, Alastair Cook is now through his run of poor form. It was good to see him play positively for his hundred, rather than clinging on to his place for dear life but Kevin Pietersen is still a worry.

I really don't know where KP is with his game at the moment. The last time we spoke to him, he was still going on about losing the captaincy, which was 18 months ago, for goodness sake, so I don't know what he has been up to at all. On top of that, Jonathan Trott played another strange innings and Paul Collingwood's form is poor.

The batsmen are working hard but they don't play enough county cricket. If someone is out of form, where do they go to score runs?

I believe the selectors have got it just about right by sticking with players, because you do want a balanced, settled side, but you also need a team who know the selectors won't stand for poor performances.

It is no good people doing badly and being able to think: "I failed today but I'll be in the team next week."

For this reason, had Cook failed, he would have had to have been dropped for the series deciding Test at Lord's.

This has been an exciting contest but one dogged yet again by slow over rates. There is no excuse for bowling 75-80 overs in a full day when 90 should be bowled and that is why there should be a five-run penalty for every over a team doesn't manage to bowl.

Play the game at the proper speed, instead of languishing around in the field. If such a rule were brought in, there would be criticism from people suggesting it was contrived.

Yet there would never be any reason to enforce it. The threat would be sufficient to ensure teams bowled their allotted number of overs every day.