Andrew Strauss ready to flame Ashes challenge

Two weeks tomorrow, as the expectation becomes nerve-shredding for the start of the first Test, all the tension and uncertainty can be offset by a safe prediction that will remain the calmest man both on and off the field. His assurance is evident when, having just revealed his troubling doubts about accepting the position as England captain after it was thrust upon him at the start of this year, he coolly compares the difference between now and then. "If you ask me for my gut reaction about this series my feelings are very ¬different to what they would've been six months ago," Strauss says pointedly. "Six months ago I was very concerned about how things were looking. But, now, we're in a very good place.


Strauss leans forward, and his quietly booming voice resonates as he reiterates his conviction. "I like the characters we've got in our side. I don't think any of these guys are going to shirk from a challenge and I believe we're going to play the kind of cricket we need to beat Australia. And if we use the conditions well I think we've got a really good chance.

"Captaincy is a confidence game. When the team is winning and your decisions go well that breeds confidence. You either back your instincts or you hold off – and you're more likely to back your instincts if you're confident. That's why I'm in a better place as captain now than I was a couple of years ago [when he acted as a successful stand-in leader against Pakistan in 2007]. I'm more experienced and more sure how I want to captain England."


Their route seemed even more tangled after the humiliation of their first Test in charge which resulted in an innings defeat – as England were dismissed for 51 by West Indies. Strauss pinpoints that devastating loss as the moment when a fractured team began to heal itself. "We had a very honest meeting after that defeat in Jamaica. A lot of things were said that needed to be said. We walked out of it feeling much better about ourselves as a group because people had got things off their chest they had kept bottled up.

"Since then our cricket has been pretty consistent – and the ¬important thing was the way we responded in a crisis. There were ¬frustrations over the way we had played in the last 12 months. Maybe we had swept those ¬frustrations under the carpet and we needed to get them out. It was a cleansing process."

Strauss suggests that ¬previous ¬problems within the England team festered in a closed -environment. "I've always felt that, in the past, there has been a teacher-pupil relationship between the management and the players. But the best teams are run in such a way that the players have a voice.

"So far it's worked exceptionally – look at guys like Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. Jimmy's reasonably quiet but he's really come out of himself. He's now contributing a huge amount on and off the pitch. When I came in I spoke about player responsibility – and giving the ¬players more responsibility for the way they prepare and more of a say in how we play our cricket. A lot of it is to do with people not thinking that they have to say the right thing – but say and do what they feel is right."

He and Flower "are looking ahead as part of a long-term view of English cricket that goes beyond the Ashes, to be frank. This Ashes series is important but the progression has to go much further than that. I would think some of the things we want to implement will take two years minimum."
Their ambition appears to echo that of Duncan Fletcher who, at least briefly in 2005, came close to turning England into the world's best Test team. "We've ¬definitely got goals along those lines," Strauss says. "I don't want to go into it so much because that's something for us to discuss as a team."


It might be assumed that Strauss, as a fierce competitor despite his laid-back persona, plans on England eventually replacing Australia as the No1 team in the world. Strauss hesitates before, unusually, ¬bristling. "I think you're putting words in my mouth there," he protests before his amiable self re-emerges. "But, yes, you'd be foolish if you went into this job and said, 'Oh no, we don't want to be the best team in the world'."

Strauss has no illusions about how much England need to improve before they can even consider that prospect – but he is heartened by Australia's ¬vulnerability. He seems unsurprised that they were beaten at home by South Africa just as he was plunged into the England captaincy. "You can't lose the likes of Warne, McGrath, ¬Gilchrist, ¬Hayden and Langer without feeling some effect. It takes a huge amount to replace those guys and I don't believe it's possible for young players to match that level of performance straight away. Having said that, you're never going to face a weak ¬Australia. They're always going to be competitive. But that aura about them has dissipated. More teams believe they can beat Australia now."

Strauss and Hughes were team-mates for Middlesex earlier this season – and the young Australian batsman scored ¬heavily in county cricket. They even put on a second-wicket partnership of 244 against Leicestershire in the one match they played together. Hughes ¬matched the England captain with a ¬century but Strauss outscored him when they were at the crease together – with 150 to Hughes's 88. "He's obviously very ¬confident," Strauss says of the 20-year-old. "It's always impressive when a ¬youngster backs himself with an ¬unorthodox technique."

Strauss shrugs dismissively at the ritual Aussie pronouncement that, as England captain, he will be targeted ¬unmercifully. "They always say that – but that kind of stuff is honestly the least of my concerns."

And then, as if to remind England how lucky they were to have stumbled on him as their captain six months ago, Strauss looks up as a smile spreads across his face at the prospect. "The good thing is that I feel calm and prepared. I'm ready for it."