By Ged
January 7 2009
Ged provides a rapid feature on Andrew Strauss, who today was appointed England Captain for the West Indies Tour. It isn't every day that a Middlesex man is appointed England Captain, so it seemed the right thing to write. Those of you who are eagerly awaiting the MTWD stats piece (which is all-but written) fear not, that should be published early next week now.
After a momentous day for England cricket, Andrew Strauss of Middlesex was appointed Captain of England for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies. Andrew Strauss has in fact captained England briefly before; as locum for Michael Vaughan in 2006; firstly a catastrophic ODI series against Sri Lanka and then a fine test series against Pakistan. England won that test series comfortably 2-0 or 3-0, depending on how you view the outcome of Oval fiasco test match. But let's not go there. Many Middlesex Till We Die (MTWD) regulars were bitterly disappointed when Strauss was then overlooked for the 2006/7 Ashes series. Andrew Flintoff was chosen instead and the resulting Ashes whitewash, followed by pedalo antics and a lacklustre World Cup are the subject of legend. Duncan Fletcher has described that decision as one of the most difficult of his career and also (with the benefit of hindsight) an ill-judged decision. Andrew Strauss's form did not suffer at all when he was appointed captain of Middlesex in 2002 when Angus Fraser retired unexpectedly. Indeed, his first full season in charge, 2003, yielded over 1400 runs. Yet, the 2006/7 England captaincy muddle did seem to affect his form; his one and only slump in test form came in the aftermath of that business. He was dropped from the England side brefly, but brought back early in 2008 in New Zealand. Some doubts remained for much of 2008, with his (to date) top score of 177 on that New Zealand tour being the only real highlight until the end of August. Many of us at MTWD were again disappointed that Strauss was not appointed test captain when Michael Vaughan resigned, but perhaps at that time there was still a question-mark over his form. Still, he responded this time with a string of late season first class successes for Middlesex. The Strauss Watch thread charts that success: Click here to see the Strauss Watch thread Then of course came the magnificent hundreds in each innings of the Chennai test. A hundred in each innings is a rare event and even more of an achievement for an England player in the subcontinent. Given the difficult circumstances of that India tour, Strauss's Chennai performance proved once again that Strauss is not a man to buckle under pressure. Andrew Strauss is a fine captain, but the job of England captain is never easy. Given the events leading up to his appointment, it becomes a doubly difficult job for now. The West Indies are not the force they once were, but there is probably an unrealistic expectation that we ought to be able to roll them, whereas I suspect they are becoming a tougher assignment than that, especially on their own turf. Then, after just 6 more tests and a few short-form matches, there's the Ashes. The Aussies are hard enough to beat when the England unit is ultra-cohesive; the current set up looks shambolic and Strauss will have a major part to play in bringing it all together in a hurry. As long as he makes strides in the right direction on the forthcoming West Indies tour, I would expect his appointment to be extended for the 2009 English summer at least. Middlesex fans have no doubt that Strauss has what it takes to succeed in the job. Enough then, to say many congratulations and best wishes to Andrew Strauss of Middlesex; England Captain.
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