Andrew Strauss: Engineering a Fresh Start for England Cricket

Twin exits rocked England cricket last month. Andrew Strauss has inherited a dressing room that hasn’t been happy for a while. He will step on the West Indian soil with a sacked former captain in Pietersen, and two former other former captains in Flintoff and Collingwood, as also a support staff without a clearly designated leader.

He will also have in Harmisson a fast bowler who hasn’t quite realized his potential, and in Panesar a spin bowler who it seems didn’t have a happy time under the last skipper.

Fortunately for him, his opposite number isn’t as formidable as a Lloyd or a Richards, nor is the team in the same league; Chris Gayle’s men can and will discomfort the Strauss-led England, however. In the light of this, Andrew Strauss will hold the key not just to the ultimate outcome of this series, but to the future of England cricket for the next few years.

He has made an interesting beginning by saying that it’s up to the individuals to realize what they make of themselves. Some of the individuals that will count for England beyond the skipper himself are: Cook, Collingwood, Sidebottom, Flintoff, Prior, and, Panesar. Cook seems to have an uncluttered mind, and as Strauss’ deputy will need to bring this uncluttered thinking to the field if England are to prove a point, once again, in a country where they have been good tourists, generally.

Sidebottom will be eager to compensate for his absence, and with Anderson and Flintoff he will be the mainstay of England attack. Similarly, it will be extremely important for Panesar to come good and improve as a spinner, because he doesn’t seem to be a better bowler than he was when he began a couple of years ago. Can Mushtaq Ahmed help? Only time will tell.

Collingwood’s solidity in all three departments of the game will as always enlarge the talent pool the skipper can draw upon, and Prior will look to put an end to the musical chairs that have been played with the keeper’s spot in the England team of late.

Bell will play his part, yes, but the skipper-deputy combination right at the top will be critical to the batting fortunes, as will be the Collingwood-Flintoff-Prior trio lower down. Pietersen, too, will be eager to bury the recent past and prove more than just a point. He will relish the attack and the calypso setting, and it seems that he will now want to be even more destructive.

But then, the most critical person in this outfit is the skipper himself. He seems cool-headed, has had the grit in him to come back after being dropped, and has been out of the one-day side for a while. Will he take strength from these personal situations as well as from the transitory state that the twin-exits have created? My bet is on him to do so.

I believe he will engineer a fresh start for England cricket, and players like Flintoff, Harmisson, Panesar, and Bell might just give their best under him. He is the man of the moment.