Test can give riot-hit England a lift – Strauss

England captain Andrew Strauss insisted he had no qualms about playing the third cricket Test against India at Edgbaston following a night of rioting in Birmingham.

Players from both sides mostly opted to remain in their hotels yesterday as rioters and looters took to the streets of England’s ‘second city’ on Monday following three days of similar disorder in London.

But Strauss, who said his team had been told by their security manager it was “100 per cent safe” for them to play the third Test, said the match should start as scheduled today despite the riots.

“Let’s divorce the cricket match from what is going on in the country which is clearly not our proudest hour as a country right at the moment,” Strauss told reporters yesterday.

“You can divorce the two. I think this is an opportunity for cricket to maybe put a feel-good factor into the newspapers and show that not everything is bad out there at the moment.

“It hasn’t really affected our preparation,” he added.

“When you watch these scenes on the television, it’s horrific and it’s far from England’s proudest moment. But we fully intend to play the game as we would any other game.”