Strauss's favourite oppostion
Andrew Strauss's composed second-innings century was instrumental in England's win over New Zealand at Old Trafford and Alan Lee writes in the Times that Strauss owes his Test career, the making of it and the saving of it, to centuries
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Getty Images
Andrew Strauss's composed second-innings century was instrumental in England's win over New Zealand at Old Trafford and Alan Lee writes in the Times that Strauss owes his Test career, the making of it and the saving of it, to centuries against the visitors.
Full of face, receding of hairline, ready of smile, Strauss has the avuncular look of everybody's favourite team-mate. He even wears the red and blue of England on his bat handle.
There are times when he comes over as almost too nice and you long to inject a spot of rascally malice into him. But yesterday it was the gentle man who prevailed, a triumph for craft over chutzpah.
Until his final innings in New Zealand last winter, Strauss was without a Test century in 30 starts, a run that had led to him being cast aside in both forms of the international game. The 177 he made in Napier not only won a series but also restored his selectorial privileges, a process he had initiated with a spell of provincial cricket in, you've guessed it, New Zealand.
Nishi Narayanan is a staff writer at ESPNcricinfo