Andrew Strauss was formally unveiled as England’s Test captain at a packed press conference at Lord’s in which he insisted he has the support of his predecessor, Kevin Pietersen. He was not, however, named England’s one-day captain, after a tumultuous 2
Cricinfo staff08-Jan-2009
A calming influence: Andrew Strauss rejected that the dressing-room rifts were as wide, or serious, as the media have claimed © Getty Images
Andrew Strauss was formally unveiled as England’s Test captain at a packed press conference at Lord’s, after a tumultuous 24 hours for English cricket surrounding the double departure of Kevin Pietersen and the coach Peter Moores. He was not, however, named England’s one-day captain, a decision that Strauss admitted was still in “a state of flux”.Strauss, 31, was thrust into the hot seat yesterday and spoke of his determination to draw a line under the fractious events of the past few days, while confirming that he “has no problem” working with Pietersen, a “world-class player” whom he firmly believes will support him during his tenure.”I would like to thank Kevin Pietersen for his efforts as England captain. He is one of the greatest players in the world and I am delighted that he has confirmed that he is available to play in all our forthcoming fixtures.”KP has been very supportive of me so far. It’s a tough situation for him and I’m sure he has his own side of the story. I believe he did what was in the best interests of the England team and I have no problems with him as a player. It’s vital we get the best out of Pietersen and I believe I can work with him very closely.”Strauss added that he didn’t believe the dressing-room rifts were nearly so wide as the media have made out.”Clearly from the point of view of the players and some of the management we need to chat and get it sorted out. But I’ve said before we are about playing and winning cricket matches and I’m sure that will unite us. I have some conversations I need to have with some of the players and will happily do that over the coming days.””In situations like this people get pushed into corners sometimes, but my experience of the England dressing-room is that we have always got on well, I don’t think anything has changed that.,” said Strauss. “We have some strong characters in that dressing-room which is what you want, you want characters who believe strongly in what they about.”My job is to manage them and make sure we are all going in the right direction and with the characters in the team I believe firmly that we can do that. The reality is that it is going to take some effort on everyone’s behalves and that’s the reality. You’re not just going to walk in and everything’s going to be hunky dory.”This is Strauss’s second stint as England captain after impressing during a stand-in spell in 2006 when he led them to a 2-0 series-win over Pakistan. At the time, many felt Strauss should have been named the permanent skipper, not a locum. England instead opted for Andrew Flintoff during the 5-0 Ashes defeat of 2006-07, and Strauss’s form subsequently tailed away until he was dropped for the following winter’s tour of Sri Lanka. His back-to-back centuries in Chennai in December marked a fine return to form however and, ultimately, his was the only name in the hat to replace Pietersen.Though he was understandably keen to present fresh, forward-looking views on his and England’s future, he did make mention of the relationship between Moores and Pietersen which broke down so irrevocably. “Towards the back end of the India tour there were signs that Kevin and Peter probably weren’t getting on as well as they could do,” he said. “You’ve got to remember that the cricketers themselves were concentrating on trying to play two Tests and getting back after the terror attacks. There were certainly weren’t signs that his [Pietersen’s relationship with Moores] was as estranged as it turned out.”Asked whether the team felt sympathy with Moores for the manner in which the situation had played out, Strauss said: “Yes and rightly so. Peter Moores put in a huge amount of effort, enthusiasm and determination in taking the England team forward. I don’t think anyone likes to see things end up in this manner. He has shown a lot of integrity and I don’t think he deserves to go out in this fashion. But that’s the way it’s happened. There have been issues that have had to be dealt with and now they have been dealt with.”Strauss takes the helm without a first-team coach – Andy Flower is expected to get the role for the West Indies tour – but said he would leave the selection process of the long-term choice to the ECB. “To be honest with you there are only a few coaches I’ve worked with. Anyone else I’d have no idea who they were and what they were about as people,” he said. “Coaches have reputations I suppose but the ECB have people in charge to make those decisions and I back myself to be able to work with most people.”When Pietersen was appointed in August last year, Geoff Miller, the national selector, made clear England’s intention to have one captain for both roles. With Strauss not part of the one-day side, the possibility of dual-captaincy is again on the cards. “To be honest with you that’s in a state of flux at the moment,” Strauss said. “I have a meeting with the selectors tomorrow to discuss the one-day situation. Clearly there are issues with that. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out I haven’t been playing in the one-day team for 12-18 months. We need to discuss what is best for the team.”Inevitably, thoughts turned to his predecessor Pietersen, who arrived back in London today to a police escort and an army of photographers and later said he would be spending a few days with his family before making any public comment.”KP is a very strong-willed person and that was one of his great strengths as England captain. He had a vision of where he felt English cricket need to go and backed himself to deliver that,” Strauss said. “He wasn’t worried about upsetting a few people along the way. In a way that’s a very positive trait to have, but in another it is going to create confrontation and that’s the way it has worked out.”All I know, knowing him as a person and a cricketer, you need people who aren’t going to take a backward step. That’s how he tried to run his captaincy and things were difficult, there’s no other way to describe it.”