Strauss: Back to form

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Andrew Strauss says he has much more to offer England after his career-best 177 in the third Test against New Zealand in Napier.

The Middlesex batsman returned to form in style in the last match of England's tour of New Zealand, having been axed for the earlier series in Sri Lanka.

His first Test hundred since August 2006 has helped him to overcome his crisis of confidence and he is now looking forward to the summer in a more positive frame of mind.

"Now, having got a century I feel less pressurised still and I think that will enable me to play better," said Strauss.

"I am really motivated to re-establish myself in the side and to have my best years ahead of me and not behind me.

Get better

"I have had some great times for England but logically there is no reason why I cannot get better and better.

"The hundred gave me a fair amount of relief but more than anything a great deal of happiness to get a hundred and help England win the series.

"I just felt I was contributing to the side again. It was a tough series and one we needed to win. Having won that, like myself, the team feels a little bit less pressurised and will play better cricket on the back of it.

"The hundred was well overdue and not getting one for a while had become a bit of a millstone round my neck. It was an important knock and takes a bit of pressure off me."

Having won back his place in the side, Strauss admits he still has ambitions to captain England again in the future, but says his priority to make sure he stays in the team.

He told Sky Sports News: "There's no doubt that I enjoy captaincy and if the chance ever came again that would be a great thing, but I just think it's such a long way away for me at the moment.

Back to best

"I'm trying to re-establish myself in the side and reach the heights I achieved a few years ago and hopefully surpass those."

On the county front, Strauss believes too much importance is placed on success in the four-day game even though promotion to Division One of the Championship remains the chief goal.

Strauss has been impressed by the enthusiasm of new coach Toby Radford and the ambition of club captain Ed Smith.

Strauss added: "Toby is incredibly enthusiastic, he is a young and ambitious coach, which is a good thing to have with a young side.

"I am looking forward to seeing what he can do. Ed Smith is looking to use last season as a launch pad for better things. It was a tough season for a lot of us last season because we didn't play as well as we could have done and there was a lot of instability. That has gone now. We are hopeful this will be our year.

"Promotion from the four-day competition is important but I have been playing for Middlesex for 10 or 11 years and we haven't got close to a Lord's final, so why shouldn't we aim for one of those and do well in the first division of the one-day competition? I don't think we have to look solely at four-day cricket."