England batsman Andrew Strauss has defended Andrew Flintoff's captaincy in the drawn first Test with Sri Lanka. />Flintoff bowled 51 overs in the second innings before bad light hit but Monty Panesar bowled just 27 of spin.
"The weather was always likely to play a part so there was always that feeling we had to try and wrap it up sooner rather than later," said Strauss.
/>"He did what most captains would do - he turned to who he felt were his most threatening bowlers and he was one."
Fred has got a very good cricket brain and I'm sure he will bowl himself when he thinks it's the right time to do it
Andrew Strauss /> Strauss, who was responsible for two of the nine dropped catches in the match, followed Flintoff in blaming missed chances for the result. /> "The slip fielding aspect of last week was very disappointing from our point of view," he said.
"In the end we had 28 chances to take 20 wickets and we didn't do it. We did everything right other than finish them off, really."
The result of the second Test, which begins at Edgbaston on 25 May, could be crucial to the series.
But England will be wary of over-bowling Flintoff at the start of a hectic 12-month spell that includes the Ashes in Australia and the 2007 World Cup.
/>Strauss, who took charge in the field for spells when Flintoff took breaks at Lord's, moved to calm those fears as he spoke at the launch of the Primary Club Juniors scheme.
/>"Fred has got a very good cricket brain and I'm sure he will bowl himself when he thinks it's the right time to do it," he continued.
"But at the same time every Test match is a one-off event, you're trying to win it and you use all the resources in your power to do that.
"Captaincy's a hard job and it's a hard job being a bowler but in India he seemed to combine the two very well and there's no reason to think he can't do that again next week."
England drop a few catches and suddenly Fred's captaincy gets called into question /> Steve Harmison
Fast bowler Steve Harmison, who missed the match through injury, also hit back at Flintoff's critics, saying: "It's amazing that people can have a go at Freddie.
/>"People have been waiting to have a go at him - in the past 18 months Andrew Flintoff has not put a foot wrong.
"England drop a few catches and suddenly Fred's captaincy gets called into question."
Harmison believes if he gets through Durham's County Championship match against Nottinghamshire without any reaction to his shin injury, he will be picked in the England squad on Sunday.
/>"If I get through this game and we both feel everything is right then I'm sure they will pick me," he said.
"A big, tall lad who bowls at 90mph helps the balance of the attack. Jones, Harmison, Flintoff and Hoggard is still England's best attack because you have all the angles covered."
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