Farewell to my favourite cricketer

It was with a touch of sadness that I heard the news this morning that Andrew Strauss has decided to retire from all cricket. His emergence onto the international scene in 2004 coincided with cricket becoming an obsession rather than a background interest of mine, and his incredible runscoring feats in his debut year soon established him as my favourite cricketer. That he went on to become statistically one of England’s greatest batsmen of all time, and undoubtedly one of his countries finest captains was therefore a source of delight.

Many of Strauss’s best performances came at critical times, when the team most needed him. The unforgettable Ashes summer of 2005 will always be remembered as the series of Freddie Flintoff and three other demon England pace bowlers. However, it was Strauss who was the only man on either team to reach three figures twice – first at Old Trafford, where without his 2nd innings 100 Australia would surely have gone 2-1 up, and then at The Oval. I’d argue that his knock at The Oval was even more important than Pietersen’s in securing the urn. By the time Pietersen came to the crease on that magic Monday England were in the lead and, barring a terrible collapse, the job was done. Things would have been very different had Strauss not struck 129 first time round. He came back to bite the Australians again in 2009, when he was Player of the Series and scored a crucial century at Lord’s, his home ground.

Of course, things would have been very different over the last few years had Strauss not hit his highest Test score, 177, in the third Test against New Zealand in Napier in 2007/08. The innings followed a dreaful run of form in the preceding year and exclusion from the series in Sri Lanka in late 2007. A duck in the first innings had only added to the pressure. Had he not delivered then he would almost certainly have been excluded from England’s cricket that summer. Would he have got another chance? Maybe. Would he have been installed as England captain in 2009? Almost certainly not. In fact, with no realistic alternative at the time, I think its reasonable to assume that had Strauss not scored that 100 KP’s demands would have been adhered to, Andy Flower sacked, and England would have been in a total mess again before they knew it.

Strauss’s hundred in Napier was an early indication of his ability to cope with high pressure situations. He both took over and reliquished the England captaincy with the team in a mess involving their star batsman. On each occasion he dealt with the situation purposefully, fairly and effectively. From the very start his relationship with Andy Flower brought about progress. Within a year the team advanced from being average to world class. A large part of this was the emphasis placed on batsmen not giving their wickets away, bowlers bowling tighter lines and an improvement in fielding standards. With a different captain standards might not have been raised, but Strauss was so highly respected within the camp that, a notable exception aside, the players always did their very best for him. Achieving that respect will be a great challenge for Alastair Cook in the months to come.

Perhaps Strauss’s greatest strength as a batsman was his back-foot play. Anything short or wide was fearsomely punished by his cut and pull, and this contributed to his fine record when faced with an underperforming bowling attack, particularly in one-day cricket. But this shouldn’t take anything away from the man’s skill. Watching him take Mitchell Johnson to pieces in 2009 was a fantastic exhibition of somebody playing to their strengths.

One-day cricket was never supposed to be Strauss’s format – a lack of options principally being the cause of this – but when thrust back into the side as captain after the sacking of you-know-who he stepped up to the plate marvellously. Between 2009 and his perhaps premature retirement from the format after the 2011 World Cup he was England’s leading one-day batsman. The highlight of his one-day career will be his hundred against India at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in that last World Cup. On that day his performance exceeded even the Little Master’s glittering earlier century, and ensured that England came within one run of beating the eventual champions.

So to Strauss’s legacy. Few players can claim to have led England to Ashes wins at home and away, and have won the Ashes a further time as a player. Nor has any other England captain led their team to the top of the rankings since they were introduced in 2000. Leading the team to two more wins next year would have topped things off, but he can hardly complain. As a batsman Strauss’s average doesn’t match up to the global greats of the past decade. But his final mark is better than that of Michael Atherton or Nasser Hussain, and only marginally inferior to Michael Vaughan’s. He also scored 21 100s, just one behind the national record shared by Wally Hammond, Geoff Boycott and Colin Cowdrey and the same as Kevin Pietersen’s current tally. He won’t be ranked as an all-time batting great, but is certain one of our best in the past twenty years.

The decision to go now surprised many, and I myself would certainly have liked to see him go out in a blaze of glory after leading the team to a series win in India, two more Ashes triumphs and back to the summit of the rankings. But it wasn’t to be, and if, as he said in today’s press conference, Strauss has reached the stage where he can no longer find the motivation to get better, he’s done the right thing to step aside before the slope becomes ever more slippery.

Strauss’s place in the England pantheon of greats is sure to forever be debated. But for me he was quite simply an England legend.

Very fitting and apt thoughts on Strauss, Shelsey. Wonderful piece.

My thoughts exactly, just sad for me that he had to bow out with the cloud.

Greatly missed.

Fantastic article as always shelsey

First of all, Wishing all the very best to Andrew Strauss, a player who used to be a big favorite, in his life after cricket. A solid test opening batsman who did very well in ODIs as well a good captain he led England to many of their finest moments in recent times.

"With a different captain standards might not have been raised, but Strauss was so highly respected within the camp that, a notable exception aside, the players always did their very best for him."
Shelsey, I would like to get this clarified, Are you suggesting Pietersen didn't give his best on the field as player?

Excellent read Shelsey and echoing what many feel about Straussy, tremendous batsmen and captain, a leader of men who set the standards for top class cricket very high and took England to world no.1, and winning back to back ashes series, including a first win in oz in how long. Add to that the whitewashing of India, the current test no.1 side and its safe to say he was one of the greatest England captains of all time, maybe even the greatest.

msp83 wrote:"With a different captain standards might not have been raised, but Strauss was so highly respected within the camp that, a notable exception aside, the players always did their very best for him."
Shelsey, I would like to get this clarified, Are you suggesting Pietersen didn't give his best on the field as player?

On the field he did but his actions over the past few months particularly don't constitute giving your all the team and respecting the skipper. Don't want to bring KP-gate onto this thread though...

Great article Shelsey.

Shelsey93 wrote:

msp83 wrote:"With a different captain standards might not have been raised, but Strauss was so highly respected within the camp that, a notable exception aside, the players always did their very best for him."
Shelsey, I would like to get this clarified, Are you suggesting Pietersen didn't give his best on the field as player?

On the field he did but his actions over the past few months particularly don't constitute giving your all the team and respecting the skipper. Don't want to bring KP-gate onto this thread though...

Perhaps you could have done away with the insinuation, perhaps you could have remembered his last test stats. That insinuation is enough to start it all going, Those lines did stand out for me and I wanted to react instantaneously as I thought its quite unfair.
But you are a respectable poster, and I wrote elsewhere its time to move away from the saga and focus on Strauss for now, so I wouldn't take it forward here.

Not a bad article shelsey

No, great stuff as per the norm. You're right about 2005. His tons were crucial.

Shelsey - clearly a personal tribute from yourself but also one representing the thoughts of many of your fellow posters. Thank you.

As a keen follower of the county game, I would also emphasise the mutual admiration between Strauss and MIddlesex CCC. Whilst he paid tribute to the Club in his retirement speech, their supporters have ever since been singing the praises of the man who captained their county from 2002 to 2004 and always gave as much as possible for them.

Finally, I do understand the concern raised by my sometime adversary msp and also thought the insinuation shone the spotlight more on Pietersen when it deserves to be solely on Strauss.

Anyway, it's your article and certainly a fine one.

Good player, Very good Captain and a Great man.

One day I reckon we will see Andrew Strauss as the CEO of the ECB.

LondonTiger wrote:Good player, Very good Captain and a Great man.

One day I reckon we will see Andrew Strauss as the CEO of the ECB.

Damned with faint praise!

Good test batsman, decent captain, really nice guy.

I daren't comment too much.

Fantastic article Shelsey and a fitting tribute.

Strauss was a good (at times very good) batsman, a very good captain and an all-round nice guy. Guilford is right to point out what a fantastic servant he has been to Middlesex as well - I saw him play a few times very early (98? MfC will know) on in his career and had no reason to think he'd make it as far as he did; certainly someone who made the most of his talents.

Thank you for everything Mr Strauss and all the best for the future. Hopefully he'll stay involved in cricket in some form - maybe go into coaching? He has all the attributes.

Cracking article Shelsey, but I was just wondering do you really think the Aussies would have won that Test at Old Trafford without the Strauss second innings ton? I'm not convinced. England did declare only 5 or 6 down with a lead of 430 so to say they would have lost without that knock is pushing it slightly I feel. Not to demean from the man at all, he is a tremendous guy, and his innings at The Oval was as important, if not more so, as KP's like you mention, as that got us up to a barely a par score and got us a first innings lead in the end. That was his crucial knock in that series for me.

But a fantastic read, and a really fitting tribute to my personal favourite England captain.

Worth mentioning his performances in SA in 2004-5 as well - the series was a big stepping-stone to England reclaiming the Ashes the following summer & Strauss dominated the SA bowlers - at least one match-winning & one match-saving innings but contributions throughout including 3 centuries.

Fantastic tribute Shelsey though a bit disappointed that you had to bring KP into it.
Calling him one of the "greatest of the England batsmen of all time" does seem like a bit of a hyperbole.

But he was a good player who contributed to some of England's most memorable test victories in the last decade. The Test series win in SA, the Ashes 2005, the Ashes 2009 and the Test win in Mumbai would not have possible without you, Straussy! Farwell and thanks for the memories! Hope to see you involved with the England team in some other capacity soon.

JDizzle wrote:Cracking article Shelsey, but I was just wondering do you really think the Aussies would have won that Test at Old Trafford without the Strauss second innings ton? I'm not convinced. England did declare only 5 or 6 down with a lead of 430 so to say they would have lost without that knock is pushing it slightly I feel.

I suppose, although Australia did make 371-9 in that 4th innings. Without Strauss's knock we could well have been bowled out with a lead of less than that.

Well written shelsey. Top work.

shankythebiggestengfan wrote:
Calling him one of the "greatest of the England batsmen of all time" does seem like a bit of a hyperbole.

As I said that is only statistically - 21 100s is right up there as England goes.

Lucky enough to see Strauss's debut 100 at Lord's in 04, his 161 at Lord's in 09 and his wonderfully-received hundred at HQ against the Windies this year.
Some excellent postings on him. He managed to pull of the tricky feat of sounding authoritative and corporate which kept the blazer brigade happy as well as down-to-earth, blokey, sensible and supportive which the players liked.
Cook might be able to pull this off as well, but I doubt anyone will do it better.
Being England cricket captain is possibly one of the most onerous tasks in sport. Time to trot out the famous Richie Benaud line about captaincy: "It's 10% ability and 90% luck, but don't try it without the 10%."

Just catching up with this thread. Excellent article Shelsey. One other point it would be worth highlighting is the stunning one handed slip catch Strauss took to dismiss Gilchrist at a vital moment in the 2005 Ashes series. That sort of effort would have given a massive boost to England's morale....

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:Just catching up with this thread. Excellent article Shelsey. One other point it would be worth highlighting is the stunning one handed slip catch Strauss took to dismiss Gilchrist at a vital moment in the 2005 Ashes series. That sort of effort would have given a massive boost to England's morale....

He was exceptional in the slips... the still of that moment will forever be, along with Freddie and Brett Lee, one of the images of the Ashes.

Strauss for me is the first captain to make me proud for along time. I am not even gonna think about his actuall play or individual performances . I judge captains on win loss, rankings etc. And he was top draw..