Strauss: England's greatest Test captain?
Andrew Strauss's CV has Ashes wins home and away and world No 1 spot on it, but the way he saved a flailing side makes the opener, the finest leader his country has had, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent .
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
Andrew Strauss's CV has Ashes wins home and away and world No 1 spot on it, but the way he saved a flailing side makes the opener, the finest leader his country has had, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent.
Perhaps because he is not an attacking captain by nature, perhaps because he does not set tricksy fields, perhaps because he is not an instinctive changer of bowling, it is easy to overlook his virtues. Strauss is endlessly patient as a captain in that he allows strategies to unfold to their logical conclusion.
He could do with a few more runs himself – though as captain he averages more than Vaughan, Hussain and Atherton. But he has taken English cricket to a great place. The time has not yet come but it will be fascinating to see what Strauss, now 34, does next. He could write a book on the art of captaincy and conflict resolution.
Graeme Swann, who has spent a fair bit of cricket career standing next to Strauss at slip, admits that the England captain is a bit of a hero to him. Here's more in the Sun.
His statesmanlike qualities extend beyond the routine stuff such as making bowling and fielding changes or team talks. When stories such as match fixing or even last week's riots demand a firm but sensible voice, Strauss is the man to deliver the perfect words.
Akhila Ranganna is assistant editor (Audio) at ESPNcricinfo