Sir Andrew Strauss appointed Chair of ECB’s Cricket Committee [Update Post #89]

[Saj]

Andrew Strauss has been appointed Director, England Cricket.

In this new high-performance role for the England & Wales Cricket Board [ECB] he will be responsible for the long-term strategy of the England men’s cricket team and for developing the right coaching and management structure to support it.

The appointment follows a month-long formal recruitment process led by ECB Chief Executive Tom Harrison.

Strauss, who led England to two Ashes wins and took his team to the top of the ICC World Test Rankings, reports to the Chief Executive.

Commenting on the appointment, Harrison said: “Andrew’s breadth of ideas, his passion for England cricket and his proven leadership skills shone out.

“He was an exceptional England captain, is an authoritative voice on the modern game and has a wealth of experience building successful teams.

“Andrew is also widely respected across the sporting landscape. We’re delighted he’s joining us at the ECB as we set out to create a new strategy for the game.”

In this new role Strauss will oversee the England’s senior men’s team including their performance and development programmes and the selection process and player pathway. The England Head Coach will report directly to him.

 

[Junaids]

How splendid.

What England really needed was continuity, and Andrew Strauss is as close to identical to his predecessor Paul Downton as anybody could be.

We can look forward to the good times for English cricket going on and on.

 

[wasimjunior]

This is a joke. Hes been captain of half the players in the current squad- how will be completely impartial?

 

[cricketjoshila]

Another Cook yes man.nothing will change.What England needed was to take away powers of Cook and have someone who will not simply do what Cooks asks.

why didnt they appoint Vaughan?

 

[Junaids]

Another Cook yes man.nothing will change.What England needed was to take away powers of Cook and have someone who will not simply do what Cooks asks.

why didnt they appoint Vaughan?

Too northern, too independent, lacks Strauss' loyalty to the southeastern cricket establishment.

 

[Pete Rose]

Moores has left his position. On Twitter from cricinfo.

 

[Junaids]

The appointment of Strauss is pretty much the sort of thing which led me to emigrate. The slow managed descent into self-absorbed mediocrity, with the privileged in the southeast softening their descent by funnelling the remaining resources to themselves. The BBC published an amazing graph last year of Transport spending per head in National Infrastructure Plan, which read as follows:

London and South East: £2,700 per person
North East: £0 per person

Cricket is no different. The fact that the best players, best coaches, best team and best leader are all northern counts for nothing. The positions of power are retained in the south.

The fact that Strauss has the hide to accept this job ahead of his betters like Vaughan and Stewart really highlights his unsuitability to hold it.

 

[Junaids]

I don't know whether other nations ever go through this phenomenon, but I will now be rooting for both New Zealand and Australia against my own country, England.

I want them to make us pay for this dumb appointment.

I opposed the sacking of KP last year and was delighted to see us promptly endure the shame of a home Test series defeat by Sri Lanka. I vainly hoped that it might knock some sense into people's minds at the ECB.

I opposed the appointment of Downton, and even more strongly repudiate his replacement by his own clone Strauss.

I want us to lose. Be humiliated. Shamed. Disgraced.

 

[shaz619]

LOL I can't believe this.

 

[SL_Fan]

And this is going to solve what exactly? ECB has lost the plot quite clearly.

 

[leatherface58]

KP must be regretting turning down the IPL contract right now.

 

[Chrish]

Kevin Pitesen now can forget about entering into English squad ever again.

 

[shaz619]

KP must be regretting turning down the IPL contract right now.

No way is Stauss Having him back Unless he seduces him with a love letter, text or whatever

 

[shaz619]

Dear Straussy I love you bro, please have me back. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, your batting is so much better then mine and what a great mind you have. Sometimes I just can't help myself or control what I say but believe me it's not easy being me and I don't mean what I say, it would be my honour to serve your excellency. Yours faithfully, KP

 

[zabalestmsm]

I like him! Was a good captain! Those skills may be handy here!

 

[The_KING]

Terrible appointment

 

[Markhor]

Strauss will be another ECB establishment yes man who will not make the radical changes to English cricket that are necessary. He's a short-sighted, conservative, "steady the ship" appointment that reeks of total lack of ambition on the part of ECB.

What is this role of Director of Cricket anyway ? The ECB seem to love creating new job titles with snazzy names when we could be better spent maximising the abilities of the people currently in their positions.

 

[UpInTheAir]

He is a white British with a Pak dad (if I am not wrong).

Now settled in Australia.

Supports England (his home country) in general and has a soft spot for Pakistan (understandably cos one of parents is a Pakistani).

Now annoyed with England's decisions and wants them to get humiliated so that changes can happen.

I read somewhere he's Nasir Hussain's elder brother. But he doesn't mention it on account of how Nas once borrowed his bat the day of his university cricket final. He hasn't spoken to him since then. Something along those lines.

 

[Kianig89]

Will be interesting to read Goeffrey's next column regarding this

 

[angrypathan]

rooobish

 

[SL_Fan]

Forgot about the whole KP thing. Now the door well and truly closed I would say.

 

[Convict]

I don't know whether other nations ever go through this phenomenon, but I will now be rooting for both New Zealand and Australia against my own country, England.

I want them to make us pay for this dumb appointment.

I opposed the sacking of KP last year and was delighted to see us promptly endure the shame of a home Test series defeat by Sri Lanka. I vainly hoped that it might knock some sense into people's minds at the ECB.

I opposed the appointment of Downton, and even more strongly repudiate his replacement by his own clone Strauss.

I want us to lose. Be humiliated. Shamed. Disgraced.

That's a pretty un-Australian comment

 

[Junaids]

I read somewhere he's Nasir Hussain's elder brother. But he doesn't mention it on account of how Nas once borrowed his bat the day of his university cricket final. He hasn't spoken to him since then. Something along those lines.

It looks like there has been a lot of editing since I last tuned into this thread. Was Sensible Indian Fan referring to me? He's not quite right if so, and I am definitely not related to Nasser Hussain!

It's awful when you realise that your own country's national team is being held hostage to narrow parochial interests by people who care more about their their social clique than about the team's success on the field.

The Strauss appointment is blatantly political, an amateurish attempt to protect the status quo for fear of barbarians from the north who might seek to seize a degree of power and influence.

It will succeed at what it seeks to do, namely perpetuating the control of Middlesex and the home counties.

But that same perpetuation of the status quo will serve also to extend the mediocrity and obsolescence of the national team.

 

[UpInTheAir]

It looks like there has been a lot of editing since I last tuned into this thread. Was Sensible Indian Fan referring to me? He's not quite right if so, and I am definitely not related to Nasser Hussain!

It's awful when you realise that your own country's national team is being held hostage to narrow parochial interests by people who care more about their their social clique than about the team's success on the field.

The Strauss appointment is blatantly political, an amateurish attempt to protect the status quo for fear of barbarians from the north who might seek to seize a degree of power and influence.

It will succeed at what it seeks to do, namely perpetuating the control of Middlesex and the home counties.

But that same perpetuation of the status quo will serve also to extend the mediocrity and obsolescence of the national team.

SIF only said what i replied to, i was just kidding around but may have gone too far this time, sorry if I offended you at all.

As for England, this is all new to me, I would never have thought England to have such regional biases. Almost shows shades of the Karachi and Punjab lobbies in Pakistan . Always thought the system there was a model to follow, but it seems it isn't so.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

England players have another 2 years to put their excuses in about working with a new set up etc.

Senior players like Broad, Bell and even Anderson haven't turned up when the heat is well and truly on.

ECB is too dumb to see that and the musical chairs at the top means they care more about fixing the mess than the players themselves.

 

[Robert]

How splendid.

What England really needed was continuity, and Andrew Strauss is as close to identical to his predecessor Paul Downton as anybody could be.
.

Strauss played 100 recent tests instead of 25 in the early eighties, winning two Ashes series, and has stayed close to the game instead of spending twenty years in the City.

This is a joke. Hes been captain of half the players in the current squad- how will be completely impartial?

Yeah, he'd be a fool to carry on picking the best opener in the country, the best middle order man in the country, and the best two quicker bowlers in the country.

why didnt they appoint Vaughan?

He ruled himself out.


I'm disappointed at the lack of respect for Strauss here. He skippered England in fifty tests. He won in Australia, for the first time since Gatting.

 

[Junaids]

SIF only said what i replied to, i was just kidding around but may have gone too far this time, sorry if I offended you at all.

As for England, this is all new to me, I would never have thought England to have such regional biases. Almost shows shades of the Karachi and Punjab lobbies in Pakistan . Always thought the system there was a model to follow, but it seems it isn't so.

No, my friend, I'm not offended at all.

I tend to avoid mention of my parents' origins on this board, because there seems to be such partisan simplification of who is "Indian" or "Pakistani" or anything else. But I'm quite happy to explain it.

My mother is English-English. My father's family considered themselves "Anglo-Indian" in the Joanna Lumley/Cliff Richard sort of way. Like a number of people from my English social background that I know in Australia and in England, I was brought up to believe that 'Anglo-Indian" referred to the original definition - English but spent a long time in British India.

But like Cliff Richard and Engelbert Humperdinck and Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) and Ben Kingsley and Vivien Leigh and Melanie Sykes, a long look at me (or them) shows that our ancestors dipped more than their toes into India. I have the same colouring as Alastair Cook, another Englishman whose supposed Anglo/Welsh ancestry clearly overlooks a bit of Indian or Pakistani blood.

The thing is, people like us may eventually realise that we have some long-lost (or not so lost) exotic heritage, but we grow up feeling nothing but English - just as I'm sure that Stuart Clark feels that he is nothing but Australian.

The combination of private schooling, no ability to speak an Asian language, no exposure to Indian people and total immersion in British society means that even if you are called Raman Subba Row you are purely and simply upper-middle class English.

My sense of tribal affiliation is to the north of England, to the likes of Freddie Flintoff and Michael Vaughan. I grew up there but having had the benefit of a traditional British private school education (intended to prepare me to run the now-lost Empire!) I moved down to London. And I have never ceased to be horrified at how sport - cricket and rugby union - and the entire country are run by a small southern elite on both sides of party politics.

There is very little pretence of good or fair governance in terms of politics or cricket. Both have a stunningly unrepresentative system of governance to ensure that that small southeastern minority can hold power.

And most of what goes wrong in English cricket goes wrong because the whole system is there to perpetuate the power of the upper-middle class southern minority rather than to create cricketing excellence.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the recent ECB leaks have been accidents. They haven't been. They are there to ensure that the whole process of team and overall leadership is sorted out quickly, with Strauss and the establishment winning.

This was never supposed to happen. Downton and Cook were supposed to lead a team rebounding from the Ashes to success, because that bounder Pietersen was going away and proper public (private) school leadership would fix everything.

The problem is that the establishment misread it. And now they see that their own power is at risk. So they are effectively launching a coup d'etat before that pesky northerner Colin Graves can get his feet under the table.

It's just like a Pakistan Army government overthrow really. Except that everyone is wearing suits and talking upper-class English.

 

[Robert]

As for England, this is all new to me, I would never have thought England to have such regional biases.

You know, just because Junaids keeps playing the same tune doesn't mean that the ECB are dancing to it. What was the alternative to Strauss? One bloke from Surrey! Where are the excellent candidates from the North? There are none! The one Northerner who could do it well has backed out, and the rest aren't good enough!

 

[Junaids]

Strauss played 100 recent tests instead of 25 in the early eighties, winning two Ashes series, and has stayed close to the game instead of spending twenty years in the City.

I'm disappointed at the lack of respect for Strauss here. He skippered England in fifty tests. He won in Australia, for the first time since Gatting.

I think that you are far too kind to Andrew Strauss at this time.

He happened to have the best group of players for decades. Pietersen, Cook, Prior, Swann, Anderson and Broad. Bell and Panesar too were useful in certain situation.

But he only got the captaincy because he was educated at Radley College, just as Alastair Cook got it because he was educated at St Paul's Cathedral and Bedford School.

The very fact of his captaincy was basically a continuation of his life of privilege at the heart of the establishment. From Radley to Durham University to Middlesex to the MCC.

There is a huge difference between Alec Stewart and Michael Vaughan making their chances in life compared with Strauss and my former classmate Atherton easing to the perks of their education and upbringing.

It is one thing for Imran Khan to go to Aitchison College and Oxford University and to be a great captain. But Strauss' pathway is more what you would expect if Mohammad Hafeez had come from extreme privilege to be the favoured leader.

I have always had a modest degree of respect for Strauss as a kind of patrician "One Nation" leader. But I have always had more respect for Vaughan and Stewart, and if I were Strauss I would have been too embarrassed to take this job.

Stewart and Vaughan have written identical articles in the press today. It is clear that when they were each sounded out about the job it was deliberately presented to them in a way which made it impossible to accept.

Those talks were just the figleaf to enable the ECB to progress to Strauss' coronation.

 

[UpInTheAir]

No, my friend, I'm not offended at all.

I tend to avoid mention of my parents' origins on this board, because there seems to be such partisan simplification of who is "Indian" or "Pakistani" or anything else. But I'm quite happy to explain it.

My mother is English-English. My father's family considered themselves "Anglo-Indian" in the Joanna Lumley/Cliff Richard sort of way. Like a number of people from my English social background that I know in Australia and in England, I was brought up to believe that 'Anglo-Indian" referred to the original definition - English but spent a long time in British India.

But like Cliff Richard and Engelbert Humperdinck and Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) and Ben Kingsley and Vivien Leigh and Melanie Sykes, a long look at me (or them) shows that our ancestors dipped more than their toes into India. I have the same colouring as Alastair Cook, another Englishman whose supposed Anglo/Welsh ancestry clearly overlooks a bit of Indian or Pakistani blood.

The thing is, people like us may eventually realise that we have some long-lost (or not so lost) exotic heritage, but we grow up feeling nothing but English - just as I'm sure that Stuart Clark feels that he is nothing but Australian.

The combination of private schooling, no ability to speak an Asian language, no exposure to Indian people and total immersion in British society means that even if you are called Raman Subba Row you are purely and simply upper-middle class English.

My sense of tribal affiliation is to the north of England, to the likes of Freddie Flintoff and Michael Vaughan. I grew up there but having had the benefit of a traditional British private school education (intended to prepare me to run the now-lost Empire!) I moved down to London. And I have never ceased to be horrified at how sport - cricket and rugby union - and the entire country are run by a small southern elite on both sides of party politics.

There is very little pretence of good or fair governance in terms of politics or cricket. Both have a stunningly unrepresentative system of governance to ensure that that small southeastern minority can hold power.

And most of what goes wrong in English cricket goes wrong because the whole system is there to perpetuate the power of the upper-middle class southern minority rather than to create cricketing excellence.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the recent ECB leaks have been accidents. They haven't been. They are there to ensure that the whole process of team and overall leadership is sorted out quickly, with Strauss and the establishment winning.

This was never supposed to happen. Downton and Cook were supposed to lead a team rebounding from the Ashes to success, because that bounder Pietersen was going away and proper public (private) school leadership would fix everything.

The problem is that the establishment misread it. And now they see that their own power is at risk. So they are effectively launching a coup d'etat before that pesky northerner Colin Graves can get his feet under the table.

It's just like a Pakistan Army government overthrow really. Except that everyone is wearing suits and talking upper-class English.

Wow, interesting stuff. I'm a 90's child, so again the above is also all news to me. Personally, I try not to group by nationalities/background, we live in the internet age, the world's never been as connected at any point in history. I like to hope it's bought about some sort of civility, but only future generations will tell. Crickets just a form of entertainment to me.

As for England and it's regional divide, there seems to be different points of views throughtout this forum. Probably best for me to avoid any further involvement in the discussion. I have no where nearly enough knowledge about the matter to make a valuable contribution.

You know, just because Junaids keeps playing the same tune doesn't mean that the ECB are dancing to it. What was the alternative to Strauss? One bloke from Surrey! Where are the excellent candidates from the North? There are none! The one Northerner who could do it well has backed out, and the rest aren't good enough!

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

No, my friend, I'm not offended at all.

I tend to avoid mention of my parents' origins on this board, because there seems to be such partisan simplification of who is "Indian" or "Pakistani" or anything else. But I'm quite happy to explain it.

My mother is English-English. My father's family considered themselves "Anglo-Indian" in the Joanna Lumley/Cliff Richard sort of way. Like a number of people from my English social background that I know in Australia and in England, I was brought up to believe that 'Anglo-Indian" referred to the original definition - English but spent a long time in British India.

But like Cliff Richard and Engelbert Humperdinck and Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) and Ben Kingsley and Vivien Leigh and Melanie Sykes, a long look at me (or them) shows that our ancestors dipped more than their toes into India. I have the same colouring as Alastair Cook, another Englishman whose supposed Anglo/Welsh ancestry clearly overlooks a bit of Indian or Pakistani blood.

The thing is, people like us may eventually realise that we have some long-lost (or not so lost) exotic heritage, but we grow up feeling nothing but English - just as I'm sure that Stuart Clark feels that he is nothing but Australian.

The combination of private schooling, no ability to speak an Asian language, no exposure to Indian people and total immersion in British society means that even if you are called Raman Subba Row you are purely and simply upper-middle class English.

My sense of tribal affiliation is to the north of England, to the likes of Freddie Flintoff and Michael Vaughan. I grew up there but having had the benefit of a traditional British private school education (intended to prepare me to run the now-lost Empire!) I moved down to London. And I have never ceased to be horrified at how sport - cricket and rugby union - and the entire country are run by a small southern elite on both sides of party politics.

There is very little pretence of good or fair governance in terms of politics or cricket. Both have a stunningly unrepresentative system of governance to ensure that that small southeastern minority can hold power.

And most of what goes wrong in English cricket goes wrong because the whole system is there to perpetuate the power of the upper-middle class southern minority rather than to create cricketing excellence.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the recent ECB leaks have been accidents. They haven't been. They are there to ensure that the whole process of team and overall leadership is sorted out quickly, with Strauss and the establishment winning.

This was never supposed to happen. Downton and Cook were supposed to lead a team rebounding from the Ashes to success, because that bounder Pietersen was going away and proper public (private) school leadership would fix everything.

The problem is that the establishment misread it. And now they see that their own power is at risk. So they are effectively launching a coup d'etat before that pesky northerner Colin Graves can get his feet under the table.

It's just like a Pakistan Army government overthrow really. Except that everyone is wearing suits and talking upper-class English.

Oh thanks for the reply.

My post was based on your osts at different points of time. Looks like I got it wrong about your Dad. Sorry about that.

You did once mention the reason why you have a soft spot for Pakistan right? Is it because of the exciting cricket they have played over the years or due to some other reason.

 

[Junaids]

Oh thanks for the reply.

My post was based on your osts at different points of time. Looks like I got it wrong about your Dad. Sorry about that.

You did once mention the reason why you have a soft spot for Pakistan right? Is it because of the exciting cricket they have played over the years or due to some other reason.

Actually, you're almost right about my Dad! I get endless fun teasing my father for being "Pakistani". Because he was born in Dacca, British India. And so when I was born in England in the 1960s, many years after he had left the subcontinent, my birth certificate stated my father's place of birth as Dacca, Pakistan!

He hates it. Absolutely hates it. Because in England, the term of racial abuse for anyone Indian is of course "****" and his entire family teases him for being one.

It's a pretty tenuous link from me to Pakistan though. It's a bit like saying that Shakib-al-Hasan is of Pakistani origin.

Anyway, the bottom line is that I have some blood which is not British, about the same amount as Alastair Cook. But I consider myself British - funnily enough, more British than English.

I left the UK in the mid-1990s. In those days, when a football World Cup came around people put out British Union Jack flags.

I went back for the 2006 World Cup and discovered that now they use the English Flag of St George instead. The consequence of a Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly seems to be people from England now having an English identity, whereas I just had a British one (and remember cheering on Scotland at the 1978 World Cup and Ireland in the 1994 World Cup).

So I am a bit of a throwback with my allegiances.

And I have a question for Robert.

Robert, have you been surprised at the level of hostility from Geoff Boycott and myself and people posting on Cricinfo about the appointment of Andrew Strauss? I do respect your respect for him, and I'm curious as to whether you expected this degree of hostility towards him?

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Actually, you're almost right about my Dad! I get endless fun teasing my father for being "Pakistani". Because he was born in Dacca, British India. And so when I was born in England in the 1960s, many years after he had left the subcontinent, my birth certificate stated my father's place of birth as Dacca, Pakistan!

He hates it. Absolutely hates it. Because in England, the term of racial abuse for anyone Indian is of course "****" and his entire family teases him for being one.

It's a pretty tenuous link from me to Pakistan though. It's a bit like saying that Shakib-al-Hasan is of Pakistani origin.

Anyway, the bottom line is that I have some blood which is not British, about the same amount as Alastair Cook. But I consider myself British - funnily enough, more British than English.

I left the UK in the mid-1990s. In those days, when a football World Cup came around people put out British Union Jack flags.

I went back for the 2006 World Cup and discovered that now they use the English Flag of St George instead. The consequence of a Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly seems to be people from England now having an English identity, whereas I just had a British one (and remember cheering on Scotland at the 1978 World Cup and Ireland in the 1994 World Cup).

So I am a bit of a throwback with my allegiances.

And I have a question for Robert.

Robert, have you been surprised at the level of hostility from Geoff Boycott and myself and people posting on Cricinfo about the appointment of Andrew Strauss? I do respect your respect for him, and I'm curious as to whether you expected this degree of hostility towards him?

Haha cool.

Mention [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] for him to know you have a question for him.

Or else he will not get any notifications about it.

 

[Robert]

I think that you are far too kind to Andrew Strauss at this time.

He happened to have the best group of players for decades. Pietersen, Cook, Prior, Swann, Anderson and Broad. Bell and Panesar too were useful in certain situation.

When he took over the second time, Anderson couldn't bowl abroad, Swann was a novice and Prior little more than a backstop. I think he helped develop those players with excellent management skills.

But he only got the captaincy because he was educated at Radley College,

Oh come on. Who was the alternative? They tried tough working class Flintoff who had an even better side but got drunk, fell off a pedalo and lost 0-5. They tried tough African KP and he made that childish ultimatum. Bell? He has the charisma of a dead haddock.

BTW, Stewart was educated at Tiffin's.

And I have a question for Robert.

Robert, have you been surprised at the level of hostility from Geoff Boycott and myself and people posting on Cricinfo about the appointment of Andrew Strauss? I do respect your respect for him, and I'm curious as to whether you expected this degree of hostility towards him?

1. Not really because I know how chippy Yorkies can be, and Boycott in particular (a disaster as skipper, with his own junior player running him out on purpose).

2. No. For the reasons I have given. The hostility baffles me.

 

[Junaids]

1. Not really because I know how chippy Yorkies can be, and Boycott in particular (a disaster as skipper, with his own junior player running him out on purpose).

2. No. For the reasons I have given. The hostility baffles me.

Thanks [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION].

I think that Boycott is out of line with the strength of his public utterances. I happen to agree with him on pretty much all of these issues, but he has always had terrible social skills and been totally self-centred, and he loses touch with the reality that people like Cook, Moores and Strauss are good people with limitations who are trying their best.

I've wanted Moores out for months, but this is not the USA, we pride ourselves on treating people decently. That's why I have no problem with patrician Tory leadership on the pitch or in the cabinet, so long as it is genuinely patrician and One Nation in style. But I do have a problem with how both Downton and Moores have been summarily executed for doing precisely what they were told and doing it exactly how we knew they would. I didn't want or support them, but equally I didn't want them to be hung out to dry like this. It's shabby.

On my side of the Pennines we are less carelessly forthright than our Yorkshire neighbours, and we're proud of that difference. We would prefer a quiet word to ensure that the whole structure isn't Middlesex/Surrey/Kent/Essex dominated rather than the sort of sledgehammer style of Boycott and Graves.

But we Lancastrians probably all think that Boycott and Graves are right at this time in terms of content, just not in terms of communication.

I do think that Andrew Strauss could be an excellent team supremo. But not now, when Cook, Bell, Broad and Anderson are his recent team-mates. They effectively have a direct line now over the head of the coach to their former skipper.

And I also think that the time is wrong for Strauss simply because he represents continuity. And I don't think that continuity is the order of the day right now. Quite the opposite.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Let's keep our fingers crossed for what the new director and new coach agree mutually wrt Kevin peterson. Now KP can get in the 16 members squad in place of trott who has retired as now Adam lyth will most probably open the innings with Cook in ashes so KP can be adjusted in middle order. But as we know KP and Strauss had issues in the past , hope for the sake of their country they put it back

 

[Junaids]

Let's keep our fingers crossed for what the new director and new coach agree mutually wrt Kevin peterson. Now KP can get in the 16 members squad in place of trott who has retired as now Adam lyth will most probably open the innings with Cook in ashes so KP can be adjusted in middle order. But as we know KP and Strauss had issues in the past , hope for the sake of their country they put it back

Not going to happen.

When Downton went and then Moores became a dead man walking I thought that Pietersen would probably play himself back into contention.

When the Barbados Test was lost due to poor batting I became convinced that he was more likely to return than remain excluded.

But the appointment of Strauss puts a sudden and absolute end to that. It's inconceivable that Strauss would allow Pietersen to be recalled. Stewart and Vaughan would probably have met with him immediately to resolve the matter. But Strauss won't say anything about him being excluded or selectable, he will just say nothing and ensure that the selectors don't pick him.

 

[Robert]

Thanks [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION].

I think that Boycott is out of line with the strength of his public utterances. I happen to agree with him on pretty much all of these issues, but he has always had terrible social skills and been totally self-centred, and he loses touch with the reality that people like Cook, Moores and Strauss are good people with limitations who are trying their best.

Concur. Though Strauss and even Cook are better captains that Boikz ever was.

I've wanted Moores out for months, but this is not the USA, we pride ourselves on treating people decently. That's why I have no problem with patrician Tory leadership on the pitch or in the cabinet, so long as it is genuinely patrician and One Nation in style. But I do have a problem with how both Downton and Moores have been summarily executed for doing precisely what they were told and doing it exactly how we knew they would. I didn't want or support them, but equally I didn't want them to be hung out to dry like this. It's shabby.

What I don't like is how the press seem to know what is happening to employees before they get sacked. That's galling. There are sneaky people behind the decent men such as Downton and Moores.

On my side of the Pennines we are less carelessly forthright than our Yorkshire neighbours, and we're proud of that difference. We would prefer a quiet word to ensure that the whole structure isn't Middlesex/Surrey/Kent/Essex dominated rather than the sort of sledgehammer style of Boycott and Graves.

Yep, I accept that.

Here's what Stewie (my choice as supremo, remember) says on the Beeb site:


Stewart, who played in 133 Tests, said: "He's captained his country and when you're captain you make bold decisions, you make brave decisions, you make decisions you believe in.

"I don't take it that Andrew Strauss is a 'yes' man or he's too close to that dressing room. If he has to be cut-throat then he will be.

"Yes, it's going to be tough - Australia are best side in the world. Yes, they're going to start as the underdogs, but the underdogs do sometimes win."

Stewart was contacted about the role taken by Strauss but wished to remain in his position as director of cricket at Surrey.

"My views on how the role could be done were obviously different to the ECB's, so I was never going to be a candidate," he said.

"My job is to try and make Surrey successful and to provide players to Andrew Strauss and England."

 

[Robert]

Let's keep our fingers crossed for what the new director and new coach agree mutually wrt Kevin peterson. Now KP can get in the 16 members squad in place of trott who has retired as now Adam lyth will most probably open the innings with Cook in ashes so KP can be adjusted in middle order. But as we know KP and Strauss had issues in the past , hope for the sake of their country they put it back

It would make no difference if he returned. He's 35 and not making many runs for Surrey anyway.

But it'll never happen. What people don't understand is the sheer volume of managers who KP has fallen out with. Downton, Moores and Flower are all sidelined or sacked, but KP betrayed Strauss too, and Cook doesn't want him either, having once fought for his 'reintegration' after Textgate.

 

[Junaids]

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION], it is the penultimate line of your Stewart quote which so closely resembles what Michael Vaughan has written and makes me certain that Strauss has been installed by a process of ECB conspiracy.

Stewart and Vaughan both flagged their interest in the job, as did Strauss who wasn't even considered to be a long-shot for the job because he was in this team a couple of years ago.

Suspiciously, neither the candidates nor the public received any explanation as to what the job would be.

Stewart and Vaughan both had their informal meetings - they never even formally applied for a position, because the ECB refused to define the job.

And the information that they were given by the ECB led each of them to declare that they were no longer interested.

It's a classic old boy's network strategy. Reduce the field to three, then drive away the two candidates you don't want. Hey presto, the person you want is the only applicant.

It stinks to high heaven.

 

[Junaids]

It would make no difference if he returned. He's 35 and not making many runs for Surrey anyway.

But it'll never happen. What people don't understand is the sheer volume of managers who KP has fallen out with. Downton, Moores and Flower are all sidelined or sacked, but KP betrayed Strauss too, and Cook doesn't want him either, having once fought for his 'reintegration' after Textgate.

1. He didn't betray Downton. He had been exiled to Third Man in Australia, then Downton accused him of being disengaged.

2. He did betray Moores. Badly.

3. He was treated worse by Flower than he treated Flower. I was at the Ashes in Australia and he was totally excluded and Third Man and Long Leg. They hid him as far away from his teammates as possible.

4. The betrayal of Strauss is still debatable. Do you know what he wrote in those SMSs? The original inference that it was advice on how to get Strauss out was totally refuted by the South Africans. But Strauss certainly called him a C**t.

5. He repaid Cook for his reintegration by winning him a series in India.

KP has only had 4 First Class innings so far this season. And he's averaging 56.00 in them.

 

[Robert]

1. He didn't betray Downton. He had been exiled to Third Man in Australia, then Downton accused him of being disengaged.

2. He did betray Moores. Badly.

3. He was treated worse by Flower than he treated Flower. I was at the Ashes in Australia and he was totally excluded and Third Man and Long Leg. They hid him as far away from his teammates as possible.

4. The betrayal of Strauss is still debatable. Do you know what he wrote in those SMSs? The original inference that it was advice on how to get Strauss out was totally refuted by the South Africans. But Strauss certainly called him a C**t.

5. He repaid Cook for his reintegration by winning him a series in India.

KP has only had 4 First Class innings so far this season. And he's averaging 56.00 in them.

1. OK, ambiguous sentence construction by me.

2. Concur.

3. I wonder why Flower did that?

4. No, I don't but the general opinion seems to be that the SMS messages were the final straw which got him dropped. Flower clearly did want him back.

5. That's overstating it. His big innings did set up one of the two victories, but I would argue that the spinners won the series. In any event he did little for England thereafter. So one innings is not much of a repayment.

6. With a top score of fifty, IIRC.

 

[Junaids]

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION],
Ultimately cricket is entertainment. You have to be giving the public what it wants.

The ECB wrote off Pietersen before the public did, and that was an error. They forgot that they are the custodians of our game, not theirs.

Pietersen is arrogant, self-centred and abrasive at times.

But think back to Geoffrey Boycott's hundredth hundred ( yes, Indian fans, 100 REAL centuries) at Headingley in 1977.

Boycott was arrogant, self-centred and abrasive too. He was also a slow, boring batsman who had chickened out of cricket for several years and left his team-mates to face the extreme pace of the West Indies.

But was it the right decision to recall this obnoxious, boring batsman? The fact that we all remember that Headingley Test 37 years later means, in the words of Dead Ed, "Hell, yes!"

And by the same token, KP either should have been axed immediately after textgate or not at all.

And if Strauss extends his exile he just increases the estrangement of the England team from its public.

 

[Convict]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] - In the local paper here in WA, Justin Langer was quoted as saying he hasn't been approached for the job and he has no intention of coaching England

 

[Junaids]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] - In the local paper here in WA, Justin Langer was quoted as saying he hasn't been approached for the job and he has no intention of coaching England

Good!

Like you, I'd like to see him build something at WA and eventually replace Boof.

I'm not convinced that Gillespie is certain to take the job either. It's a crap lifestyle and I wouldn't want that job.

I do hope the ECB has got him lined up. I'm starting to get fears of Mickey Arthur or Ottis Gibson.

 

[Junaids]

Actually, [MENTION=132373]Convict[/MENTION], I've just remembered that last month John Buchanan gave a very strong interview about Pietersen. He'd be even worse!

 

[Robert]

Actually, [MENTION=132373]Convict[/MENTION], I've just remembered that last month John Buchanan gave a very strong interview about Pietersen. He'd be even worse!

Here you go: Beeb site, 27 March.

Bringing back Kevin Pietersen could "tear apart the fabric" of the England team, according to Australia's most successful coach John Buchanan.

Pietersen, sacked in February 2014, has joined Surrey in a bid to win back his England place after encouragement from new English cricket boss Colin Graves.

But Buchanan thinks the batsman's return could be "destructive".

"A decision was made for good reasons," he told BBC World Service. "Leadership is about sticking by that decision."

Buchanan also likened Pietersen - who is targeting a place in England's team to face Australia this summer - to a "child" who is determined to get his own way.

"There has been a clear decision made by the ECB about where Pietersen fits in the English camp. Let them stick by the decision, draw that line in the sand and say this is what we really stand for.

"You will always have people like Pietersen that are game changers and they are usually difficult to handle because they are quite selfish. When things are going well for them, there are no better people in the team, they are caring, sharing and give a lot of support to everyone, but when things are not going well they become quite destructive. They can tear things apart."

"It's like when you are a parent with a child," added Buchanan, who has written books and given lectures on leadership. "The child doesn't get his way from mum so then he goes to dad and asks dad. And if he still doesn't get the answer then he plays both of them off against each other. If he doesn't get his own way he certainly causes a bit of mayhem in the meantime."

 

[Junaids]

What odds that Buchanan was thinking of Warne while he spoke about Pietersen?

 

[Robert]

Astonishingly, Graves said that the leak about Moores' sacking did not come from the ECB.

Which is a non sequitur if I ever heard one.

 

[Junaids]

Astonishingly, Graves said that the leak about Moores' sacking did not come from the ECB.

Which is a non sequitur if I ever heard one.

I don't know about you, [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION], but I have wondered whether the Downton and Moores leaks came from a certain powerful Yorkshireman......

 

[Convict]

Astonishingly, Graves said that the leak about Moores' sacking did not come from the ECB.

Which is a non sequitur if I ever heard one.

Yeah. It came from someone who was technically not employed by the ECB

 

[Junaids]

I see that a week after England collapsed to lose to the West Indies, Kevin Pietersen is 57 not out for Surrey.

I don't know what [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] thinks, but until Strauss' elevation to national team supremo two days ago he was one big score away from serious contention for the next vacancy.

But now I think that I'm closer to selection for England. And I'm middle-aged, overweight, short-sighted, I can't bat and I pitch one leg-break in three that I bowl.

 

[Junaids]

Pietersen is now 101 not out at lunch.

And he's lifted his First Class average this season to 111.50.

I wonder what Andrew Strauss is thinking, [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]?

 

[Robert]

Yeah. It came from someone who was technically not employed by the ECB

Ah-hah!

Pietersen is now 101 not out at lunch.

I wonder what Andrew Strauss is thinking, [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]?

So I noticed. Interesting times...... I guess it will come down to whether Chef thinks he can work with KP again.

If Chef is still skipper. A Dizzy-Root combo might ask for him back.

 

[Junaids]

Ah-hah!



So I noticed. Interesting times...... I guess it will come down to whether Chef thinks he can work with KP again.

If Chef is still skipper. A Dizzy-Root combo might ask for him back.

The funny thing is, I'm not sure that Pietersen has actually gone into decline. Looking back, I think that in the Ashes he was on the margins of the team and sulky and that he didn't have his head in the right place to perform with all the chaos going on around him, with both Trott and Swann taking flight in mid-series.

He has played three long-form matches this summer, although the first wasn't First Class. And his scores so far are:

170
19
53*
32
8*
115* (in progress)

Those are numbers that could be hard to ignore.

397 runs and only dismissed 3 times.

 

[wrongun]

He was actually their best bat in the Ashes too, from memory his numbers stacked up favourably against his team-mates output.

I don't see Strauss doing much but getting in the way of the new coach. Why pick a man to hover OVER the coach, just let him do his job. There's no way it can do anything except muddy the waters, add to the over-analysis/over-coaching, too many staff but no-one with any responsibility problem they already have.

 

[Convict]

I think KP is like Warne - he plays best when he feels loved.

They have big egos but they need to have it validated by other people.

Interestingly I think another divisive figure and Warne protege, Michael Clarke doesn't care in the slightest what people think of him.

I remember reading a quote about him from a guy who claims to be connected to the Sydney grade scene (he either has incredibly good mail or is just great at guessing things because he's succesfully predicted many odd selection decisions before they happened. Like Agar's test debut and Mitch Marsh in the UAE). And this was the quote about Clarke -

when he stops playing (cricket) he won't have a friend in the world from the game - and it won't worry him one bit"

KP on the other hand is worried a lot about that possibility.

 

[Robert]

He was actually their best bat in the Ashes too, from memory his numbers stacked up favourably against his team-mates output.

Well, sure, if you think averaging 27 is really much better than averaging 23 or 24. If he had come out of the series with 500 runs I'd agree but the truth is that all the top six were awful. The only players who enhanced their reputations were Broad and Stokes.

 

[Robert]

I think KP is like Warne - he plays best when he feels loved.

They have big egos but they need to have it validated by other people.

Bingo.

You have to keep stroking KP, telling him he is doing OK. I think that Flower didn't know that. We talk about tough skippers like Stewie and Nass putting him in his place but I don't think he would respond to them. A Brearley would have managed him a lot better, and Vaughan of course.

 

[Convict]

The funny thing is, I'm not sure that Pietersen has actually gone into decline. Looking back, I think that in the Ashes he was on the margins of the team and sulky and that he didn't have his head in the right place to perform with all the chaos going on around him, with both Trott and Swann taking flight in mid-series.

He has played three long-form matches this summer, although the first wasn't First Class. And his scores so far are:

170
19
53*
32
8*
115* (in progress)

Those are numbers that could be hard to ignore.

397 runs and only dismissed 3 times.

Looks like this century was against the might Leicestershire - who haven't won a game since the 90s*

 

[Junaids]

I agree with what both [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] and [MENTION=132373]Convict[/MENTION] are writing.

But I go a bit further than [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION].

It is part fo the job of both the skipper and the coach to ensure that the high maintenance players like Pietersen are appropriately supported to get the best out of them if they are better players than their prospective replacements.

Alastair Cook has the leadership ability of Sir Geoffrey Howe, whose displeasure was once compared to "being savaged by a dead sheep".

And Andrew Flower even as a player was an intense and solitary loner who struggled to make friends and influence people.

They were a poor combination and between them they failed to manage England's best batsman for decades. And, as is the way of the world, the high maintenance prima donna got the blame, not the people who failed to manage him.

But I still think that every match he is kept excluded is just extending the mistake.

 

[Junaids]

KP's going big.

Now 174 not out out of 343-8.

 

[Junaids]

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION], have you been following this page?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/32688499

Half an hour ago when Pietersen reached 200 this BBC Sport page reported that:

1) tomorrow Andrew Strauss will tell a press conference that Pietersen will never play for England again, AND
2) Michael Vaughan has stated that both he and Alec Stewart pulled out of contention when given a condition of their employment that Pietersen was not permitted to be selected for England in the future.

The BBC page has now been edited, and the Daily Telegraph link has gone dead.

Curiouser and curiouser!

 

[Junaids]

My guess is that Strauss will show who is the true c*** tomorrow - to use the word with which he described Pietersen on TV - and that Pietersen will bring forward his departure to Hyderabad.

 

[Robert]

1) tomorrow Andrew Strauss will tell a press conference that Pietersen will never play for England again,

Which is at odds with what the incoming ECB boss said.

2) Michael Vaughan has stated that both he and Alec Stewart pulled out of contention when given a condition of their employment that Pietersen was not permitted to be selected for England in the future.

Seems unlikely. If one of them got the job, and that got leaked, then KP would have grounds for a massive civil action against the ECB. Possibly a criminal one too, regarding restrain of trade.

 

[Markhor]

Some dramatic news on the KP front, just as he's scored a triple century, Piers Morgan has tweeted:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I can now reveal that Andrew Strauss and Tom Harrison asked to see KP tonight. I believe to tell him he wouldn't play for England again.</p>— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) <a href="https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/597811179742961666">May 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Some dramatic news on the KP front, just as he's scored a triple century, Piers Morgan has tweeted:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I can now reveal that Andrew Strauss and Tom Harrison asked to see KP tonight. I believe to tell him he wouldn't play for England again.</p>— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) <a href="https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/597811179742961666">May 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

piers is cunning

by saying this he has multiplied the already enormous pressure on Strauss by ten

 

[Markhor]

piers is cunning

by saying this he has multiplied the already enormous pressure on Strauss by ten

One would hope ECB + Strauss can get over their personal animosity with KP and give him a recall for the sake of English cricket.

Don't know how likely it is considering ECB's new director of cricket called Pietersen a Charlie Uniform November Tango live on air...

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

One would hope ECB + Strauss can get over their personal animosity with KP and give him a recall for the sake of English cricket.

Don't know how likely it is considering ECB's new director of cricket called Pietersen a Charlie Uniform November Tango live on air...

I want KP back from a neutral perspective, but i think his book was a step to far for the ECB

 

[Robert]

Seems unlikely.

Then again, what motive would Vorn have to say that if it isn't true? Was he misquoted?

 

[cricketjoshila]

Ah-hah!



So I noticed. Interesting times...... I guess it will come down to whether Chef thinks he can work with KP again.

If Chef is still skipper. A Dizzy-Root combo might ask for him back.

Is it about The English team or is it about Cook?Cook is neither a great batsman nor a great captain that his will should run the English team.Poor stuff by ECB if they want to run English cricket by the will of Cook.

 

[Robert]

Is it about The English team or is it about Cook?Cook is neither a great batsman nor a great captain that his will should run the English team.Poor stuff by ECB if they want to run English cricket by the will of Cook.

I think that Cook would have quit as skipper if KP returned, maybe as a player even. If it came down to that choice, you might as well go for the 30-year-old than the 35-year-old.

 

[Abdullah719]

England cricket director Andrew Strauss to step down for summer

LONDON: England cricket director Andrew Strauss is to stand down temporarily for the season while his wife Ruth continues her treatment for cancer, with Andy Flower filling in while the former Test captain is on leave.

"My wife was diagnosed with cancer in December," Strauss told reporters at Lord's on Tuesday. "We are very lucky she has been very well up to now although she is starting a new treatment on Friday which is going to be more challenging for her and as such I am going to be stepping back from my day-to-day duties while that treatment is going on."

He added: "On a day-to-day basis Andy Flower is going to be stepping in for me over the course of the (English) summer."

Flower was England's coach while former opening batsman Strauss enjoyed a successful spell as national captain that included a 2010/11 Ashes series victory in Australia.

The former Zimbabwe batsman has remained in the England and Wales Cricket Board set-up and is currently the coach of England's second-string Lions.

"We all know about his qualities and his experience of both England and English cricket and he will fill in my shoes very adequately," said Strauss.

"I look forward to returning and grabbing the reins again but at this period of time my focus has to be on supporting Ruth and my family at a challenging time for us."

England face Pakistan at Lord's on Thursday in the first of a two-Test series following a miserable 2017/18 tour programme that saw them fail to win any of their seven Tests in Australia and New Zealand.

Strauss has since appointed a new national selector in Ed Smith, a former England batsman.

And on Tuesday he revealed the establishment of a scouting network made up of six former England players in Marcus Trescothick -- still playing for Somerset -- Glen Chapple, Steve Rhodes, Richard Dawson, Chris Read and James Taylor to assist Smith.

"They will be compiling reports on players of interest to us," said Strauss. "Ed Smith will be appointing his own England selector to help him select the team over the course of the summer as well."


- Curfew remains -

Before announcing his decision to step down, Strauss spoke to the England squad and confirmed the midnight curfew established in Australia as a result of an embarrassing alcohol-related incident involving Jonny Bairstow 'headbutting' Cameron Bancroft in Brisbane would remain in place.

"Players are clear about what is expected of them while on England duty and I reaffirmed that today when I spoke to the players," said Strauss, 41.

"It (the curfew) is one thing the players got used to over the course of the winter.

"We are a high-performance environment and guys being professional about how they prepare for games is not something that should be frowned upon, it should be expected of players."

Meanwhile, Strauss indicated the ECB were considering appointing specialist head coaches for their Test and white-ball men's teams when Trevor Bayliss steps down after next year's Ashes.

The Australian is in charge across the board but Strauss said: "It is very hard for one coach to coach all formats.

"It is possible, and most other teams go down that route, but we play more cricket than anyone else and that is something we will definitely be looking at," he added.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/spo...-strauss-to-step-down-for-summer-1818362.html

 

[Junaids]

This thread is the perfect career obituary for Andrew Strauss.

Every single thing I predicted came true!

 

[Robert]

Oh no, poor Ruth. What awful news.

Saw her at Uxbridge once, lovely lady. I hope she can get well.

 

[Junaids]

Oh no, poor Ruth. What awful news.

Saw her at Uxbridge once, lovely lady. I hope she can get well.

Fair comment.

I don’t like or respect her husband, but I wouldn’t wish this upon anybody.

 

[Hasan123]

Hope his wife recovers. Sad to hear about this.

 

[Abdullah719]

Andrew Strauss today stepped down from his position as Director of England Cricket after three and a half years in the role.

Having spent time away from day-to-day duties this summer he will now take a more flexible role with the ECB, initially supporting Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison in the process of recruiting a full-time successor.

Andy Flower, who has covered the role for the last four months, will continue in his interim capacity until December with the intention of joining the Lions in India in January. A full-time appointment will be made before England’s West Indies tour in the New Year.

Explaining the decision, Andrew Strauss said:

“After three and a half incredible years with the ECB, I have taken the difficult decision to step down from my role as Director of England Cricket.

“Next year is potentially the most important the game has had in this country, with the World Cup on home soil and a home Ashes series, and we have an incredible opportunity to do something special. It is vital that the Director of Cricket can give consistent guidance and support to England Cricket through this period.

“Taking time out this summer to support my wife and kids, as Ruth goes through treatment for cancer, has given me the chance to fully consider what’s right for England and what’s needed at home. The role in cricket requires total focus and commitment to deliver the best results, yet right now I need far more flexibility than could ever be possible in my position in order to support my family.

“I will not be leaving the game completely – initially helping Tom to shape the role for my successor, then supporting a range of other ECB projects – but it’s important to see someone else in place for a crucial summer in 2019.

“It has been hugely motivating and enjoyable to be working for the ECB and England Cricket. Before taking on this incredible role, I had little appreciation of all the selfless work that goes on across the ECB and throughout domestic cricket to ensure we have winning England teams and that the game, as a whole, keeps growing.

“I have been fortunate to be at the ECB at a time when ground-breaking progress has been made, giving cricket a platform to evolve and inspire for years to come. I would like to express my gratitude to Tom, Colin Graves and the leadership team for their commitment and support in helping to drive English cricket forward.

“I would also like to offer my sincere thanks to all of those who I have had the pleasure to work with, both inside and outside of the ECB. Finally, I would like to wish Trevor, Paul, Joe, Eoin and all of those involved in the England teams all the very best in a historical year in 2019.

Tom Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of the ECB, said:

“I know that I speak for everyone at the ECB when I say that we’re very sad to see Andrew step down from the role and we all wish him and his family the very best.

“He deserves huge respect for the way he has managed his role, fully supported Ruth and their boys and calmly considered this decision. And it’s hard to overestimate his contribution since joining us in May 2015.

“He is an exceptional talent and it is easy to see how he has made a success of each step in his career – moving from dressing room, to captaincy, to commentary, to a key role in the governing body – and all the while being the most popular of colleagues.

“Andrew has brought enormous credibility, measured thinking, strong leadership and exceptional insight and we have been extremely fortunate to have worked so closely with him for the last three and a half years. He has improved the ways we work and set the direction for the men’s Test, One-Day and T20 teams.

“But whilst Andrew leaves the post he is not lost to the ECB. He is uniquely placed to help us define the role and help recruit the right person to build on his exceptional work.”

Talking of Andrew’s successes in the role, Tom Harrison continued:

“Supporting Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace, huge progress has been made with England’s white-ball cricket, as Eoin Morgan has taken the team to number one in the world whilst playing exciting and engaging cricket. This was a key priority and Andrew has given us a great platform as we build towards the ICC Cricket World Cup next summer.

“With our Test team, Andrew started with a brilliant series against New Zealand in 2015 and steps down after a series victory over India, the top ranked team in Test cricket. At home we have secured hugely impressive wins against Australia, South Africa and India and we have defeated South Africa overseas. Looking at the young players coming through to international squads and the new selection process we are all full of optimism about the future.

“There is a range of factors that influence progress and Andrew has led significant steps in Selection, player ID, the player Pathway, innovation and coach development; some well documented already and others that reveal their full value with time.

“Andrew has also made a full and important contribution to building the wider strategy for the game with a deep understanding of the importance of driving participation, especially with girls and boys of all backgrounds.”

 

[James]

Fair play to him. Family comes first.

 

[Last Monetarist]

They could do worse than appoint Alec Stewart as Strauss' replacement, as he has done a stellar job for Surrey over the years.

Or for sheer comedy: Kevin Pietersen