Ed Hawkins sits down at Lord's with the former England spinner to get his thoughts on the drawn first Ashes Test, the madness of KP and what to expect for game two on Thursday.

In Cardiff were you surprised at how poor England were or how good Australia were?
A bit of both. there were a lot of nerves out there. The England batsman looked edgy, which is understandable in the first Test but we looked just a little vulnerable didn't we? They need to have a think about getting the mindset right for Test match cricket, batting for long periods of time instead of blazing away. It sounds strange to say that having got 430-odd but that was a 550 pitch. They'll take a lot out of it, be absolutely delighted they got away with it. It will feel like a win and Australia for sure will feel like they've been beat.

Should we expect a less tense England side then?
They should be much better, yeah. It's got underway now. I could feel the tension down there in Cardiff. there was a lot of hype and expectancy. The boys are pleased it's rolling and they've got into the series a bit. The Aussies showed their experience with their batting, Ponting and Katich weren't affected by the nerves.

You know a fair bit about spin bowling so give us your analysis of how the spinners fared
Nathan Hauritz bowled okay. The wicket was turning and bouncing a bit but all of them will be disappointed with the way they performed. It's not often that you get a pitch to work with like that in Tests so you've got to make it count. Monty and Swanny will be disappointed they didn't make inroads or create pressure, allowing Australia to keep ticking it over with ones and twos an over. But Hauritz will think that he should have won the game on the last day on a turning pitch - you have to win the game in that situation as a spin bowler. He'll be sitting there thinking 'crikey, that's what I was there for'.

Is Hauritz's participation in doubt for Lord's?
It'll be a mistake not to play him. Every Test side needs a spinner to change the pace, angles and that sort of thing. They could go with four quicks but if you're going to be a decent Test side you've got to play a spinner.

Have you changed your opinion about the series outcome after the first Test?
I was just tipping England a little bit, going for a 2-2 draw or 2-1 England. I'm not going to change my mind. I think Australia played at their maximum in that game and we didn't. If we just learn from our mistakes very quickly, it's a quick turnaround now, we can outplay them. I don't think Australia have shown us anything we don't already know. We can play a hell of a lot better and put them under pressure. If we can get big runs on the board then it'll be a different story.

After Kevin Pietersen was out to an awful shot against Hauritz in the first-innings he has said he won't change the way he plays. Is that right?
I don't like that. If you're going to be a great you can't keep blasting away like that, you've got to learn and build on your game every innings. You never stop learning. For him to say he's not going change, well we don't want that but we just want better shot selection. The second innings was just a misjudgment but the first one, which was virtually a wide when he tried to sweep it, well, even he will be honest enough to say that was the wrong shot. Just to say 'that's the way I play' it's not as easy as that. You've got to take these things on board.

There appears to be a reluctance in the England camp to tell him to knuckle down. Is that the case?
Well, there you go. People shouldn't be afraid. If I was a spin bowler and my best bat had given their spinner an easy wicket, I'd be furious because they won't give me anything. I used to have a pop when that sort of thing happened at Middlesex. If anything he's made Monty and Swanny look bad. 'Don't get out like that!' I'd be saying. But in terms of people being afraid to challenge him, there shouldn't be anything like that in the England dressing room. We're not saying someone should have a go but we want to see some responsibility for other players and teammates and he'll know deep down that was a bad shot. It's happened on two or three occasions now so try to cut it out. He's better than that. Don't stop playing fabulous shots or being aggressive but learn from your mistakes.

What advice do you have for punters for Lord's?
Seamers are going to take the wickets. It might be overcast so Jimmy Anderson might come back and prove a few people wrong. He took a bit of stick in Cardiff. It does swing here at Lord's and there's a slope to work with. Take your pick as far as runs are concerned. Straussy's got a brilliant record here so there you go, Strauss for top England runscorer.

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