Nasser Hussain has offered his sympathy to Zimbabwe after England extended their losing run of Tests by inflicting their second successive three-day hammering in the inaugural Test at the Riverside.

Captain Hussain led his side to a comprehensive innings-and-69-run triumph at Chester-le-Street which followed England's innings-and-92-run win at Lord's and extended Zimbabwe's run of successive defeats to nine Tests.

It has prompted some critics to claim the current Zimbabwe side do not deserve to be playing Test cricket and should, like Bangladesh, perhaps restrict their exposure to one-day international fixtures.

But Hussain has every sympathy for Zimbabwe and rival captain Heath Streak.

He remembers all too recently how his own side were given similar criticism during the first couple of months of last winter's Ashes tour.

"They are struggling a bit at the moment but there's no point everybody knocking them," said Hussain.

"I've been in Australia myself captaining a side when you've had injuries and things are not going your way and it doesn't help when everybody keeps knocking you. They're going through a difficult period and we've played them and we've beaten them.

"We play them tough on the field, we kick them when they're down on the field but off it we give them as much support as they need."

That support will have been appreciated by under-fire captain Streak, arguably their only world class player following the retirements of Neil Johnson and Murray Goodwin and Andy Flower during the last few years.

"Test cricket is always hard work," he said.

"We've got to learn to be patient and stick with our game plan, make sure we do the simple things and do not slack off." Streak believes England's superiority stems from their young players being taught good habits at an early stage of their development, an area which is lacking in Zimbabwe's cricket at present.

"England have a good young side but they've been well groomed," he said. "They've been taught to pitch the ball up and they don't get to the top level if they haven't learnt their disciplines.

"They are young but they've come through a competitive system - some of our guys have played only a handful of first class games - and when that has happened it's easier to do at the highest level."