Captain Strauss Focused On Pakistan, Not Ashes
Andrew Strauss’s career as the captain of England will come full circle when he takes the field on Thursday for the first Test against Pakistan. Strauss first took over as captain when he was filling in for Andrew Flintoff in the summer or 2006, and his first match was against one of England’s biggest rivals, Pakistan.
Strauss’s first series in charge was eventful; a moment that should have been his proudest was clouded by controversy and disappointment. When asked what it was like, Strauss responded with an understandable, “My memories were that … I can't remember,” he said.
But Strauss recalled that England had put up a praise worthy performance but had eventually fallen short, “It was a bit of a baptism of fire for me. We played the better cricket throughout the series and deserved to win, but no-one wanted to see the way it finished. We obviously played very well at Old Trafford to win by an innings, and we fought hard at Headingley to get another victory, but it was all over-ridden by what happened at The Oval.” Strauss said.
The controversy at the Oval was on the third afternoon when umpire Darrell Hair decided that Pakistan were guilty of ball tampering and awarded England 5 penalties. Pakistan, led by Inzamam-ul-Haq did not return after the tea interval – a decision which caused the umpires to award England the match.
Looking back, Strauss said that if he was a full time captain instead of just filling in for Flintoff, he would have played a more active role. He said that he now thinks that he should have spoken to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Inzamam-ul-Haq-c64383 sooner and convinced him to bring the team out for the rest of the match. But when he finally had a chance to, both the umpires and Inzamam had made up their minds and despite his efforts, Inzamam refused to go back to the pitch.
Later that year, England suffered a heavy defeat in their Ashes campaign, a 5-0 loss against Australia – the first Ashes whitewash in 86 years. Strauss revealed that Flintoff had just returned from injury when he was reinstated as captain. Even though his appointment was a disaster for England, Strauss said he firmly believed that the result would have been the same under any captain.
“I suppose because we won the series there was talk about who should be captain on the back of that, but I said at the time and I still maintain, Flintoff was the next guy in line to captain the side. He deserved his chance, and though we got heavily beaten in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, that would have happened whoever was captain.” Strauss said.
Ahead of the Pakistan match, Strauss said that they would not take the Pakistan Tests lightly. He admitted that the Ashes was very important as always and that they would want to perform their best. But he said that they were also looking forward to the match against Pakistan, after their 3-0 win over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747. Pakistan are considered a revitalized side with a younger squad and new captain, Salman Butt.
Strauss also mentioned Pakistan’s bowling attack, which undoubtedly won them the second Test against Australia – a Test win after 15 years. He praised Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Danish-Kaneria-c1314 but said that Headingley was a “very good bowling wicket”. As the opening batsmen he played down the apparent threat presented by the bowlers. The match is being played at Trent Bridge.
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