da aviator aposta： Andrew Strauss sat at his post-match press conference looking drained and a little depressed. This is what captaining England can do to a man, especially when you have twice been within spitting distance of victories after previously being involved in a h
Andrew McGlashan in Trinidad11-Mar-2009
Andrew Strauss: “The longer I do it [lead the team], the better I’ll become as a captain and hopefully in the future we can move together as a unit.”•Getty Images
Andrew Strauss sat at his post-match press conference looking drainedand a little depressed. This is what captaining England can do to aman, especially when you have twice been within spitting distance ofvictories after previously being involved in a horrendous battingcollapse.Strauss took the top job at the toughest time, but even he couldn’thave imagined what this tour would throw at him on and off the field.That he was able to say he was “enjoying” the role was a good signbecause, although only officially confirmed for this tour, he willlead England in the Ashes.”I’ve had a good series with the bat which helps and the players havebeen very supportive which didn’t have to be the case,” he said.”After what’s gone in the last 12 months with a lot of upheaval, certain players might have felt uneasy about another captain takingover, but they all reacted exceptionally well.”Andy Flower and the rest of coaching team have done an excellent job.Despite the scoreline, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing the job.Obviously, the longer I do it, the better I’ll become as a captain andhopefully in the future we can move together as a unit.”Although thousands of miles away, Australia’s upturn in fortunesprobably hasn’t escaped the attention of England. Not that it’shealthy to linger on the fortunes of others for too long, but theywill find it difficult not to hear of the positive impression made bythe likes of Phillip Hughes, Marcus North and Ben Hilfenhaus. Thisyear’s Ashes series will be contested by two evolving, developingsides and it’s a race to see who starts with their noses in front.At the moment it seems Australia are coming together in moreconvincing style, especially as their recent success has been againsttheir challengers for the top spot. England have a number of keyissues to resolve before the teams meet in July at Lord’s, not leastfinding a new team director to take overall charge.It is a tick in the box of both Strauss and Flower that the pairinghasn’t come across too strongly as a stand-in solution. Therelationship appears to have gelled well, but it remains to be seenwhether Flower is chosen for the main role.One of the key challenges for captain and coach (or team director)will be putting together an attack that can consistently take 20wickets. In most conditions that means five bowlers and Strauss hopesthat the tough lessons learned in this series will be valuable in thefuture.”We move back to England which will hopefully suit our bowlers a bitmore but if they are armed with the knowledge of how to bowl on flatwickets that’s going to help us in the long term,” he said.He singled out James Anderson for significant praise after his burston the final day was nearly enough to finish off West Indies. “Jimmyhas been threatening all series. He’s bowled outstandingly well and insome ways it is a travesty that he has not taken a five-wicket haulsomewhere along the way because he has troubled every single batsmanwith both conventional swing and reverse swing. He has come on a longway.”England’s immediate focus is the Twenty20 and ODIs against West Indiesbefore they return for the home season with some players making avisit (security permitting) to India first, for the IPL. They will havean immediate chance of revenge against West Indies when they visit fora short two-Test series in May and England would be well advised notto think too far ahead.”We’ve got a massive 12 months of cricket ahead of us, an Ashes seriesthat we are all desperate to win and a tour of South Africa which isas hard as anything at the moment,” Strauss said. “If we can get twovictories that would be an amazing achievement for any England side.There’s a huge amount of difficult cricket ahead but alsoopportunities and I think that’s exciting.”