Lloyd: I thought we had got it sussed

David Lloyd battled to keep a check on his emotions last night as he assessed the horrors of England's slide to 137 for 9 in the second Test against Zimbabwe.

England's coach, fortunate not to be disciplined for a heated verbal clash with a Zimbabwean cricket official after the drawn first Test in Bulawayo, admitted he was at a loss to work out where it all went wrong yesterday. "We have played very poorly. There is no disguising that and I can't explain it - I have had better days. We batted poorly on a pitch that demanded graft and patience. The one shot that was most dangerous was the drive - and we obliged.

"I can't explain why our batsmen kept getting themselves out. We have played on this pitch before and I thought we had got it sussed. It was slow and we had to be disciplined in our approach to batting. A total of 180 for 2 or 3 would of been acceptable today - and that's exactly what we wanted to do.

"Our bowlers in particular face a big task. But it's up to me and John Emburey as team management not to panic. We have to assess things and, of course, we have some work to do."