Strauss The Saviour Through These Times of Change in English Cricket

Strauss, the backbone England need in these turbulent times of change.

With the departure of Kevin Pietersen and dismissal of Peter Moores the E.C.B have finally come to their senses and put Andrew Strauss, my bet for Captain when Michael Vaughan called time on his tenure, in charge of the hardest job in English Cricket.

That the E.C.B chose Pietersen in the first place astonished me. Kevin Pietersen is a world class talent, but a leader of men he is not. This turn around to bring a respected previous captain, even though the spell was short and he was undeniably overlooked to captain against Australia in the debacle that followed that tour, is long overdue.

Strauss, a calm head, well-spoken, and gentleman cricketer is the right choice to bring stability within the ranks.

The West Indies tour will not be a walk over, Chris Gayle is bringing back a small part of the culture that has been lost within West indies cricket since the departure of all the greats of the '70s, '80s, and those that were left in the early '90s the likes of Walsh, Ambrose, Richards, Marshall, and the talent that was Lara.

I can see England coming away from a test tour of the West Indies with a 2-0 win though i feel the series will be hard fought the Windies will show glimpses of brilliance but whoever the captain a series win should be a foregone conclusion.

The problem will come within the one day set up. We are without doubt one of the world's least efficient one day sides. Strauss has to feature within the top six, Bell must be dropped, and we need to move on from the Prior opening position because it has not worked consistently enough for me.

Having Davis in the side a more than competent wicket keeper batsman from the great county, Worcestershire is well founded and a good move for the future, though one can’t help but feel sorry for the Essex based James Foster, who was scandalously overlooked for both test and one-day nods.

It brings me great sadness to see England in turmoil to this extent, though Moores cannot have been far from the axe with a record that registers worse than any previous coach if you take into account the two series wins against New Zealand and West indies—both of which have soundly beaten us in the one day format—and the resent pummelling from India and Allen Sanford’s all stars.

It came as no real surprise that the coach would either have to resign or be thrown to the wolves, Pietersen it would seem had the nous to jump before he was thrown, so ceremoniously would have been the debacle of the South African, maybe this will be the kick up the back side that many think Kevin Pietersen needs to make him look at the way a vast majority of Nottinghamshire members and the public perceive him to be the arrogant maverick that he is.

English cricket will rise from the ashes of deceit, turmoil, and misguided tabloid tales, the ashes summer is around the corner, with IPL also looming very large on the thoughts of players like Pietersen it beggars belief that an English contracted player, whether or not he has signed, would wish to play within the money lauded IPL than graft his way through the early English spring If the players want away to IPL and give no regard to the three Lions then one has to ask the question, are there priorities for English Cricket or for their pockets to be laden with the lucrative dollar.

Players of the not too distant past with England on the forefront of their minds would not give it a second thought, the Ashes is always seen as the priority, what has happened to the blue print of English International cricket, it seems to have been brushed aside ever since our ranking of second in the world was lost quicker than the blink of an eye.