Strauss deserves his shot
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
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They have decided not to gamble this time; there has been no waving of magic wands at Lord's. Instead they have reverted to the bleeding obvious, which they were so determined to ignore when Michael Vaughan suddenly resigned last summer, writes Vic Marks in the Guardian.
If Andrew Strauss offers boring dependability then there will be sighs of relief all round. Our pencils will not be so sharpened when the next England captain is hauled in front of the press. Strauss will provide a reservoir of unflappable, forgettable common sense. And there is no harm in that.
What the downfall of Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores has shown is just how big a job Strauss has on his hands. It is not just that the team are underperforming — there have been victories only against lower-ranked opposition in the 18 months that Moores has been in charge — but that they are hopelessly divided, writes Mike Atherton in the Times.
Even now talk of an Andrew Strauss captaincy brings with it uncertainty, but he should have been given his chance a long time ago, writes David Hopps in the Guardian.
His England teammates have long joked that he has the upbringing — Radley College and Durham University — but his qualifications are more real than that. He is also widely perceived to be the shrewdest tactician in the side. What counted against Strauss last summer was the ECB's reluctance to go down the route of split captaincy after the near-simultaneous resignations of Vaughan from the Test job and Paul Collingwood as leader of the one-day side.
In the era before professional captains, Andrew Strauss would have been an automatic choice to lead England, writes Simon Hughes in the Telegraph.
Strauss is a warm, responsible, hard-working character, always approachable, with absolutely no ego. He readily plays down his own achievements, humorously admonishing himself, for instance, after his twin hundreds in Chennai, for his lack of muscularity and inability to hit the ball infront of square. He's no shrinking violet though. You poke fun at Strauss at your peril. He's a good reader of character and is quick with return fire. It usually scores a direct hit.
The Ashes may be only six months away but Strauss has enough time to forge a healthy working relationship with a new coach and plan a competitive challenge, writes Angus Fraser in the Independent.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo