Andrew Strauss
[7] He held the record for most catches by a fielder for England – going past Ian Botham and Colin Cowdrey at Lord's against South Africa in 2012 – until he was in turn overtaken by Alastair Cook.[19] Graeme Fowler, his coach at the university, was eventually able to convince Strauss to focus exclusively on cricket: "In his second year, although it took time, I managed to persuade him to stop playing rugby."[20]In a rare distinction, he achieved a full Palatinate (an award "given to those who have represented their country whilst at University and have, at the same time, also made a significant contribution to their club")[21] for his cricketing activities.[2] During his early career, Strauss spent several years in the cities of Sydney and Adelaide in Australia, and briefly played first-grade cricket alongside Australian bowler Brett Lee.[23] While in Australia he met his future wife, actress Ruth McDonald,[23] whom he married in October 2003 and lived in Marlow, with their sons, Sam (born 4 December 2005) and Luca (14 July 2008).[28] He has a variety of nicknames ranging from Straussy, Levi and Johann, to the more obscure Lord Brocket, Mareman, The General, Jazzer, Muppet and Mr Potato Head.[52] Strauss returned home to start the 2004 English season but was chosen to make his Test debut for England after Vaughan sustained a knee injury in the nets.Their first port of call was Zimbabwe, visiting for the first time since the 2003 World Cup political concerns and despite being minnows Strauss could not muster even a half century in the 4–0 series win.[87] The second Test proved to be a much more dramatic affair and Strauss improved somewhat on his showing at Lord's with an opening stand of 112 opposite Trescothick, falling two short of a half century to the spin of Shane Warne.Strauss followed in his captain's footsteps in the second innings adding 106 of his own to help set a target of 371 for the Australians who managed to stave off losing their final wicket to secure a draw and maintain a 1–1 series score.[93] After enforcing the follow-on England were set 129 and the batsmen started falling under pressure, with Strauss lasting until the third wicket down and posting one of four scores within the twenties to help win the Test and take the series lead.[96] Once again Strauss made a notable catch in the field helping to dismiss captain Ponting again,[95] Australia's second best batsman in the series,[96] as well as sending fast bowler Glenn McGrath back to the pavilion for a duck.Unfortunately Strauss could not keep up his sterling performance as England were put back into bat with just over a day left in the series he fell to Warne again, caught by Simon Katich, for a single run.[96] While captain Michael Vaughan and coach Duncan Fletcher were awarded OBEs, the rest of the team, Strauss included, were given MBEs in the New Years Honours list.[101] Despite acknowledging his batting problems,[103] Strauss' performance never recovered as he scored only 44 runs in the first two Test matches, losing the first and drawing the second, at an average of 11[104] before he departed Pakistan to attend the birth of his first child, missing England's final loss.[111] In the following One Day matches England would have been lucky to manage a draw, suffering four straight losses under replacement captain Andrew Flintoff since Vaughan's knee-injury had prevented him from touring.[113] With Flintoff remaining the twelfth man for the following ODI,[114] Strauss guided England to victory after putting India to bat, with a hundred partnership with Ian Bell totalling 74 before cramp forced him to retire.[116] As England returned home weary from an entire Winter without a series victory after the euphoria of the previous two years, they completed a subcontinental triumvirate when Sri Lanka arrived to prove that Asian dominance was not particular to the Indian subcontinent.Opening once again with Trescothick, Strauss fell two short of a half century to the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan at the stroke of lunch, allowing Cook to walk out to the wicket afterwards with company.Strauss went on to take the final wicket of Sri Lanka's first innings, Nuwan Kulasekara, catching him off Flintoff to allow England to enforce the follow-on which they could not capitalise on, forcing a draw.[123] Despite the One Day 'whitewash', Strauss was given faith and made the official captain, rather than a stand in, for Pakistan's Summer tour as England embarked on their busy international schedule leading up to the Ashes and the World Cup.[124] Given the Test captaincy, his first match was at his favourite ground Lord's where he recorded another century, 128 this time, in the second innings[125] but came under criticism for allowing his bowlers only 80 overs for victory, which they did not achieve.[128] Strauss' first Test series as skipper ended in an amount of controversy at The Oval in what some commentators have referred to as Ovalgate when, during their second innings, umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove inspected the ball and decided that it had been tampered with.[145] After the Test series, coach Duncan Fletcher lamented the lack of confidence in both Strauss and Paul Collingwood whom he had wished to promote as role models for the rest of the team.In the first Test at Sophia Gardens, Strauss failed to capitalise on two starts, scoring 30 and 17; his second-innings dismissal, caught off a top-edged cut off Nathan Hauritz, was particularly poor.[citation needed] On a good batting wicket Australia racked up 674 for 6 declared, with Simon Katich (122), Ricky Ponting (150), Marcus North (125 not out) and Brad Haddin (121) all scoring centuries.Though Michael Clarke (136), Brad Haddin (80) and Mitchell Johnson (63) briefly made the target seem attainable, Andrew Flintoff (5–92) and Graeme Swann (4–87) bowled England to a comfortable 115-run victory.[166] In the third Test at Edgbaston, Strauss responded to Australia's first innings of 263 by ending the second day 64 not out; he was removed by Ben Hilfenhaus the following morning for 69, before England's powerful lower-middle order propelled the side to a 113-run first-innings lead.[168] Strauss' concentration may have been affected by the fire alarm which sounded in the team's hotel at 5 am, or by the media interviews he gave immediately before he opened the batting;[citation needed] he was lucky not to be given out lbw to the first ball of the match.[180] England then won a thrilling match against South Africa on 6 March, bowling their opponents out for 165 in Chennai to defend a low score of 171, with Stuart Broad claiming 4 vital wickets.
JohannesburgTransvaal ProvinceEnglandNew ZealandSouth AfricaSri LankaAustraliaWest IndiesMiddlesexSomersetMarylebone Cricket ClubNorthern DistrictsBatting averagestumpingscricketEngland and Wales Cricket Boardcounty cricketopening batsmanfirst-classOne Day InternationalTest matchMichael VaughanLord'srun outman of the matchPort ElizabethEngland captain2008–09 tour of the West IndiesKevin Pietersen2009 AshesIan BothamColin CowdreyAlastair CookPeter MooresKnight BachelorTheresa May's resignation honoursCaldicott Schoolprep schoolRadley Collegepublicboarding schooleconomicsUniversity of Durhamdissertationsupermodular gamesHatfield CollegeBenedict Bermangeuniversity rugby clubfly-halfGraeme Fowlerupper-second classAdelaidefirst-gradeBrett LeeMarlowGlenn McGrathMcGrath FoundationJohannLord BrocketMember of the Order of the British EmpireOfficer of the Order of the British Empire2011 Birthday Honourshonorary doctorateScyld BerryDavid CameronDurham UniversityAngus FraserLeicestershireVikram SolankiDinusha FernandoMark ButcherLord's honours boardPaul Collingwoodmiddle orderNasser HussainGraham ThorpeStephen FlemingSimon JonesMarcus TrescothickNatWest tri-seriesunbeatenAndrew FlintoffRob KeyOld TraffordBrian Lara2004 ICC Champions TrophyZimbabweGraeme SmithJustin LangerNatWest SeriesTwenty20 InternationalMichael Clarke2005 Ashes seriesRicky PontingShane WarneTrafalgar SquareAdam Gilchristfollow-onSimon KatichIan BellDuncan FletcherBirthday HonoursEngland toured PakistanEngland went to India in MarchGuwahatisubcontinentalSri Lanka arrivedMuttiah MuralitharanNuwan KulasekaraPakistan's Summer tourOvalgateDarrell HairBilly DoctroveMohammed YousufChampions Trophy in IndiaCommonwealth Bank Tri-SeriesMike HusseyWorld CupOwais ShahSabina ParkKensington OvalSophia GardensNathan HauritzMarcus NorthBrad HaddinJames Anderson