West Indies Vs. England: Strauss's First Test Since Taking Over From Pietersen

England’s cricketers have departed to the Caribbean to take on the West Indies after the resignation of captain, Kevin Pietersen and the sacking of Peter Moores. The West Indies side are a shadow of the team in their prime and are currently one of the weaker nations in test cricket.

It is a big year for English cricket with the Ashes coming up as well as the Twenty20 World Cup. By the end of this tour England must look a more secure unit with all the personal issues between captain, coach and players being settled. Andrew Strauss is the man given this task and he must achieve this to boost England’s Ashes chances.

In order for England to win in the West Indies there first has to be some stability. With Kevin Pietersen returning to the ranks following his short spell as captain the main focus will be on how Pietersen will respond to the events that led to his resignation.

The main threats from the West Indies come from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle. England will need to have strategies for all three batsmen in order to have a successful series. A lot will rest on the new ball pairing of Harmison and Sidebottom. Surfaces in the West Indies have traditionally favoured pace bowlers such as Harmison and eyes will be on him to see if he can repeat his heroics of 2004.

This tour is the start of an important year in English cricket with The Ashes in the summer. Prior to the 2005 Ashes win the England side picked itself with the only debate revolving round the selection of either Kevin Pietersen or Graham Thorpe. However in 2009 there is less certainty over the England side.

This tour has to be used to assess what the best eleven is. It is important for Strauss to have a successful start to his captaincy as the Australians are renowned for targeting the captain. It is important for those whose places are under threat such as Ian Bell and Monty Panesar to have a good tour otherwise Owais Shah and Graeme Swann will be taking their place in the side.

With the breakdown in relations between Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores it is important for England to regain some stability. The ECB have bought time by stating that Moores’s successor won’t be named until after this tour.

It is essential, however, for Andrew Strauss to maintain, at minimum, a good working relationship between Andy Flower and his coaching team as well as the senior players like Pietersen. If he fails to do that then England might as well forget winning back the Ashes this summer.

England must hope that Pietersen gets on with his job of scoring runs. If he sulks then it will damage team morale. England have to hope that promising talents such as Alastair Cook can make the step up. Cook made eight half-centuries in 2008 from twenty-one innings but has failed to reach three figures in 2008.

Monty Panesar has been out of form and struggled in the recent series in India. His place is under threat and he must look at improving his game. Ian Bell has fallen away since his brilliant 199

The key men for England are, as they have been for the last four years, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen. Flintoff was always Vaughan’s preferred bowler when something extra was needed as has been shown in the recent series against South Africa with his fantastic spell of bowling at Jacques Kallis. Pietersen tops England’s averages on a regular basis and is the key to success.

Andrew Strauss is not under pressure, regarding the teams performance, because he has taken over a team in disarray. Strauss has nothing to lose, if he succeeds with this team then he will be praised for this job. On the other hand if the team plays poorly then these issues can be blamed.

As a captain, he has the former captain Pietersen back in the ranks after his brief stint as captain. Strauss’s job will depend on how Pietersen reacts. If Pietersen keeps his head down and scores runs then Strauss’s job will be made easier.

If the team are struggling and Pietersen is sulking then Strauss will have to deal with these issues immediately. The opening tour matches will determine how much pressure Strauss is under.