Andrew Strauss

Andrew Strauss Biography

Andrew Strauss is a former England cricket team captain, who was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, but moved to England at the age of 6.

Strauss played county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club domestically and favors playing off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots.

Background

Before starting his first-class career, Strauss played for the Durham University cricket team and the Middlesex second XI since 1996. Strauss made his first-class debut in 1998 with Middlesex first XI, scoring 83 in his maiden first-class innings.

He could not do much in first two years of his first-class career averaging only 24 and 30.5 in his first two first-class seasons.

In his next three seasons, he played with the average of more than 45 and appointed as the captain of Middlesex in 2002.

International Debut

Strauss got his first cap in 2004 when he was chosen for the Test series against New Zealand and started with a bang. He scored a brilliant hundred on his debut, scoring 112 runs in the first innings.

In second innings also, he was just 17 runs short of his second century of the match. England ended up winning the match with 7 wickets and Strauss was chosen as Player of the Match. Continuing his form, he scored a half-century in the very next match also.

Rise To Glory

Andrew tasted the success from his very first match and continued his good form in ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 at home.

The next major landmark in Andrew Strauss's career came in 2005. England won the Ashes that year, with a 2-1 win Strauss played a significant role in that win.

Captaincy

After the impressive Ashes performance team, England visited India. It was in the ODI series against India that Strauss got the opportunity to lead the English side as Andrew Flintoff needed a break.

Although England lost the series by 5-0, England selectors kept the faith in Strauss. Soon after at Pakistan's tour of England Strauss was awarded test captaincy. Strauss played a crucial inning of 35 in the fourth Test match, which allowed England to level the series.

Achievements

A major achievement for Andrew Strauss's during his captaincy was winning the 2010-11 Ashes series in Australia. By doing so, he became the third English captain to win Ashes at home and in Australia.

Low Point

The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was perhaps the low point for England team and Andrew Strauss. They won against South Africa but lost to minnows Ireland and Bangladesh.

England crashed out of the quarter-final stage of the World Cup. Many questions were raised about the captaincy of Strauss.

Retirement

Strauss poor performance in 2011 World Cup led to his retirement in ODIs. His last match was against Sri Lanka where he could score only 5 runs in 19 balls.

He continued to lead his team in Tests and led England to the number one spot in Tests after his side whitewash India 4-0 at home.

The England skipper announced his retirement from the longest format soon after having featured in 100 Tests. His last test match was against South Africa where he couldn't do much and England lost the match by 51 runs.