LONDON, (Reuters) – England captain Andrew Strauss was initially disconcerted by the huge cultural divide he discovered after joining the Middlesex dressing room fresh from Durham University.
He was even more taken aback when he introduced himself to the ebullient Yorkshire fast bowler Darren Gough after his call-up to the England one-day side.
“He simply said “All right, mate” and walked off, leaving me to become slightly paranoid about our brief encounter,” Strauss recalled in his autobiography “Coming Into Play”.
“What had I done during my short stint at Lord’s to upset him? Or was it simply a case of him not liking public schoolboys or southerners or both?”
Gough’s apparent snub was not caused by either class or regional antipathy. Instead, he thought Strauss was a new England sponsor’s representative about to drag him away to perform some tedious duty.
Opponents have quickly learned that Strauss’s pleasant personality and polite public school manner (he is known as “Lord Brocket” by his team mates) conceal a fiercely competitive cricketer. He is also intensely ambitious.
Strauss, 32, captained England to victory over Pakistan three years ago in the absence of the injured Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff. He was disappointed not to retain the job when Flintoff returned and there were those who thought he would have been the better choice.
He had his supporters, too, when Kevin Pietersen was given the ultimate job in English cricket last year. After Pietersen resigned unexpectedly before the West Indies tour this year Strauss was the obvious successor.
Thanks to an inspired spell by Jerome Taylor in the first test and a succession of featherbed pitches thereafter, which gave the bowlers nothing, West Indies won the series.
But Strauss emerged as England’s premier batsman with three centuries and his captaincy, although criticised in some quarters as overly conservative, was authoritative. At the start of an Ashes summer he is clearly the man in charge.
BATTING
FLOURISHES
Much of Strauss’s authority is derived from the way he has responded as an opening batsman to the challenge of the captaincy. Most captains, however successful, suffer at least a temporary loss of form. Only a handful flourish.
Strauss is one of the handful. In 10 tests as captain he averages 61.29 with five centuries. His average in his other 50 tests is 41.04.
Importantly he also batted impressively in England’s victory in the one-day series in the Caribbean, securing his place in the 50-over version of the game, although he has opted out of the Twenty20 World Cup.
Talking to reporters at Lord’s shortly before the start of the English season, Strauss said he thought captaincy cleared rather than cluttered his mind before batting.
“I think it does clear your mind, in my case it does because you concentrate on a lot of things, not the batting side. The batting side gets pushed to the back of your mind,” he said.
“So when you walk out to bat you’ve got a clear mind. That’s why I believe it helps me, it will be interesting to see if that continues long term. For the time being my mind is very clear when I’m batting.”
Now the Australian series beckons and all England is praying for a replay of the unforgettable 2005 series when the old enemy was vanquished. Strauss played a full part with two crucial centuries.
“The West Indies series didn’t go exactly to plan but we got some momentum out of that one-day series. And some of our test cricket was very good as well. I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom by any means,” he said.
“We back ourselves to beat most teams in our conditions. A lot of the Australians haven’t had a huge amount of experience over here. It’s a challenge for them so if we can put them under pressure early in the series then we have got as good a chance as anyone of beating them.”
