Andrew Strauss Contribution For His Team and Captaincy

Andrew Strauss Playing Style and His International Career Status-

Andrew Strauss

Personal information
Full name	Andrew John Strauss
Born	5 March 1977 (age 33)(1977-03-05) Johannesburg, South Africa
Nickname	Lord Brocket, The General, Levi, Mareman, Straussy, Jazzer, Johann, The Strauss Mouse
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Batting style	Left-handed
Bowling style	Left-arm medium
Role	Opening batsman, England captain
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 624)	20 May 2004 v New Zealand
Last Test	25 November 2010 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 180)	18 November 2003 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	12 July 2010 v Bangladesh
ODI shirt no.	14
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1998–present	Middlesex (squad no. 6)
2002	MCC
2007-08	Northern Districts
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	78	113	203	237
Runs scored	5,887	3692	14,430	6,968
Batting average	43.28	35.50	42.19	32.25
100s/50s	19/21	5/24	38/63	9/44
Top score	177	154	177	163
Balls bowled	–	6	102	6
Wickets	–	–	2	–
Bowling average	–	–	44.50	–
5 wickets in innings	–	–	–	–
10 wickets in match	–	–	–	–
Best bowling	–	–	1/16
Catches/stumpings	88/–	49/–	180/–	79/–
Source: CricketArchive, 13 September 2010

Andrew John Strauss, MBE (born 2 March 1977, Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa) is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is captain of England. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots. Strauss is also known for his fielding strength at slip or in the covers.

He made his first-class debut in 1998, and his One Day International (ODI) debut in Sri Lanka in 2003. He quickly rose to fame on his Test match debut replacing the injured Michael Vaughan at Lords against New Zealand in 2004. With scores of 112 and 83 (run out) in an England victory, and the man of the match award, he became only the fourth batsman to score a century at Lord's on his debut and was close to becoming the first Englishman to score centuries in both innings of his debut. Strauss again nearly scored two centuries (126 and 94 not out) and was named man of the match in his first overseas Test match, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in December 2004. Strauss suffered a drop in form during 2007, and as a result he was left out of the Test squad for England's tour of Sri Lanka, and announced that he was taking a break from cricket. After a poor tour for England, Strauss was recalled into the squad for the 2008 tour of New Zealand, and subsequently reestablished himself in the side with a career-best 177 in the third and final Test of that series, and a further three centuries in 2008.

 

Having deputised for Michael Vaughan as England captain in 2006, Strauss was appointed on a permanent basis for the 2009 tour of the West Indies following Kevin Pietersen's resignation. He enjoyed success with three centuries, and retained the captaincy into 2009. Strauss captained the England team to a 2–1 victory in the 2009 Ashes, scoring a series total of 474 runs, more than any other player on either side, including 161 in England's first victory in an Ashes Test at Lord's in 75 years.

International career-

The Ashes (2005)-

Strauss is caught by Michael Clarke chasing 129 to win the fourth Test

Going into the 2005 Ashes series having not won since the 1980s but with an unbeaten series record going back six series it was a highly anticipated series with Australian captain Ricky Ponting predicting it to be the closest Ashes since England's last win. Seemingly the pressure affected Strauss even at Lord's, along with the rest of the team, as he contributed 2 to their 190 and a slightly more impressive 37 to their 180 in a losing first Test, though Strauss did catch Ponting in the first innings. The second Test proved to be a much more dramatic affair and Strauss improved somewhat on his showing at Lord's with an opening stand of 112 opposite Trescothick, falling two short of a half century to the spin of Shane Warne. While this healthy platform pushed England towards a 99 run lead in the first innings, it was Strauss' paltry second innings of six which garnered more attention: four deliveries before the end of play on day two a Warne legbreak span prodigiously from the rough across Strauss' body to knock down leg stump. Those six runs are arguably crucial though, as England's winning margin was simply two runs. The number six would follow him into the next Test at Old Trafford, making way for Vaughan to bat the first century of the series. Strauss followed in his captain's footsteps in the second innings adding 106 of his own to help set a target of 371 for the Australians who managed to stave off losing their final wicket to secure a draw and maintain a 1-1 series score.

England celebrate in Trafalgar Square after winning the Ashes

In the fourth Test Strauss helped England to a fine start with a century first wicket partnership, contributing 35 himself and helping restrict Australia to 218 with two catches, specifically fast striker Adam Gilchrist in an exceedingly wide catch at slip which was called "the abiding image of the Summer". After enforcing the follow-on England were set 129 and the batsmen started falling under pressure, with Strauss lasting until the third wicket down and posting one of four scores within the twenties to help win the Test and take the series lead. With only a draw required in the final Test to take home the Ashes, Strauss showed a winning attitude batting for almost all of the first day, with seven partnerships, to put on 129 and secure another Ashes hundred and make himself the only batsmen on either team to record two centuries in the series. Once again Strauss made a notable catch in the field helping to dismiss captain Ponting again, Australia's second best batsmen in the series, as well as sending fast bowler Glenn McGrath back to the pavilion for a duck. Unfortunately Strauss could not keep up his sterling performance as England were put back into bat with just over a day left in the series he fell to Warne again, caught by Simon Katich, for a single run. Regardless, the maiden Test century of fellow South African-born England player Kevin Pietersen stalled Australia from taking victory and England won the series 2-1 to take home the Ashes for the first time in 18 years.

In a series arguably dominated more by bowling than batting, Strauss notched up an average of 39.30 and while he was only the fourth highest scoring batsmen for England with 393, only one Australian, Justin Langer, scored more runs than him and by only one run; Strauss was also the only player to score two centuries and made six catches, the second highest fielder behind Ian Bell for England. While captain Michael Vaughan and coach Duncan Fletcher were awarded OBEs, the rest of the team, Strauss included, were given MBEs in the New Years Honours list.

2009-10 and 2010:

Strauss being interviewed at the end of the Lord's Test match v Pakistan in August 2010

Following the Ashes, England played in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. They beat Sri Lanka and South Africa to unexpectedly reach the semi-finals, however Strauss only managed a top-score of 25. He didn't fare much better in the ODI series against South Africa, which England won 2-1. England drew the Test series 1-1, however Strauss passed 50 just once.

After the tour to South Africa, Strauss was controversially rested for the subsequent tour of Bangladesh. In his stead, Alastair Cook was named captain and Michael Carberry selected as a replacement opener (though Jonathan Trott was promoted to opener for the second Test, replacing Carberry). England then won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies under the leadership of Paul Collingwood.

Strauss returned to the Test team in the home series against Bangladesh. He made two half-centuries as England won the two match series. Between the Tests and the ODI series, England played Australia in a five match ODI series (this was due to Bangladesh's participation in the 2010 Asia Cup during June). England won the series, with Strauss making half-centuries in the second and third games. When Bangladesh returned for the ODI series, Strauss scored a half-century in the first game and a career-best 154 in the third, in which he shared a stand of 250 with Jonathan Trott who also made a century. England won the three-match series 2-1, and Strauss was named Player of the Series. In the accompanying ODI Series Strauss made 126 in the 2nd match of a 5 match series.

A controversial series against Pakistan followed. Strauss struggled for form in the Test series, with just one half-century, as England won 3-1, bowling Pakistan out for three sub-100 scores. He found form in the five-match ODI series though, with a century and two fifties as England won 3-2 in their final series before the 2010-11 Ashes series.

 The Ashes (2010-11):

Strauss's fourth Ashes series (and second as captain) started badly as he was caught at gully for a duck from only the third ball he faced in the first test. However, he scored an important 110 in the second innings, claiming his 19th test century and 4th in Ashes cricket.

 Test centuries-

Andrew Strauss's Test centuries
	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year
[1]	112	1	New Zealand	London, England	Lord's	2004
[2]	137	4	West Indies	London, England	Lord's	2004
[3]	126	8	South Africa	Port Elizabeth, South Africa	Sahara Oval St George's	2004
[4]	136	9	South Africa	Durban, South Africa	Kingsmead	2004
[5]	147	11	South Africa	Johannesburg, South Africa	Old Wanderers	2005
[6]	106	17	Australia	Manchester, England	Old Trafford	2005
[7]	129	19	Australia	London, England	The Oval	2005
[8]	128	24	India	Mumbai, India	Wankhede Stadium	2006
[9]	128	28	Pakistan	London, England	Lord's	2006
[10]	116	30	Pakistan	Leeds, England	Headingley Stadium	2006
[11]	177	46	New Zealand	Napier, New Zealand	McLean Park	2008
[12]	106	48	New Zealand	Manchester, England	Old Trafford	2008
[13]	123	54	India	Chennai, India	M. A. Chidambaram Stadium	2008
[14]	108
[15]	169	58	West Indies	Antigua, West Indies	Antigua Recreation Ground	2009
[16]	142	59	West Indies	Barbados, West Indies	Kensington Oval	2009
[17]	142	60	West Indies	Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies	Port Of Spain	2009
[18]	161	63	Australia	London, England	Lord's	2009
[19]	110	78	Australia	Brisbane, Australia	Brisbane Cricket Ground	2010

An innings-by-innings breakdown of Strauss' Test match batting career, showing runs scored (red bars) and the average of the last ten innings (blue line).

One Day International centuries-

Andrew Strauss's One Day International centuries
	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year
[1]	100	11	West Indies	London, England	Lord's	2004
[2]	152	32	Bangladesh	Nottingham, England	Trent Bridge	2005
[3]	105	80	West Indies	Guyana West Indies	Providence Stadium	2009
[4]	154	108	Bangladesh	Birmingham, England	Edgbaston	2010
[5]	126	110	Pakistan	Leeds, England	Headingley	2010

England captain Andrew Strauss says all is not sweet with Kevin Pietersen's tweet which labelled Adelaide Oval groundsmen as pathetic.

Key batsmen Pietersen fumed when practice pitches were uncovered during a sudden downpour in Adelaide on Wednesday, forcing the tourists to train indoors.

He reportedly made his feelings known to curators at the ground before using Twitter to express his displeasure.

Pietersen in September used Twitter to profanely reveal his dropping from the England side for a one-day series against Pakistan, before any official announcement.

Captain Strauss said on Thursday that England's cricketers had strict guidelines on the use of social networking sites, but refused to say what they were.

Asked if Pietersen had crossed the line, Strauss replied: "No, he didn't.

"But it was obviously, there are kinds of degrees of everything, and we don't want anything that distracts our attention from what is important, which is getting on the cricket pitch and performing."

Strauss believed Pietersen failed to realise the potential ramifications of his tweet.

"Kevin was just frustrated because he wanted to have a long bat yesterday and he wasn't able to do that, so he vented a bit of frustration," he said.

Strauss said he rarely used social networking websites, but added "I wouldn't prefer all of our players to be exactly like me, it would be a pretty boring dressing room.

"Everyone is different and a lot of the guys really enjoy it," he added.

"And it is a good way of broadening the appeal of the game, there is no doubt about it - it allows players to be in contact with people that support the game, so there are some real benefits to it.

"But it has to be used responsibly and by and large it has been.

"We have to make sure that we don't have any more incidences of the likes of what we have seen previously."

Strauss said Wednesday's loss of outdoor practice was "not something that I was particularly concerned about".

 

 

From Wikipedia-