Strauss to lead one-day team

Opener confirmed as England's limited-overs captain in the short-term

Last updated: 10th January 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Strauss to lead one-day team

Strauss: captain in all formats

The selectors feel that it is important to have stability and continuity on the Caribbean tour given the events of the last few days. Andrew and I have also agreed that we will review the one-day captaincy at the end of the tour. Andrew is extremely comfortable with that.

Geoff Miller
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Andrew Strauss has been appointed England captain for the entire tour of the West Indies - the one-day and Twenty20 captaincy will be reviewed at the end of the tour.

The England and Wales Cricket Board turned to Strauss following a week of turmoil which saw Kevin Pietersen resign the captaincy and Peter Moores sacked as coach.

Following his appointment as Test skipper on Wednesday, Strauss held further talks with the ECB before it was decided he would captain in all forms of the game in the West Indies.

The Middlesex opener was not originally selected for the one-day leg of the tour and had been out of the limited-overs set-up since the 2007 World Cup.

He averages 31.98 in 78 ODIs and has captained the side on 13 occasions in the 50-over format, winning four times.

The ECB also revealed that there will be no interim coach for the Caribbean trip, which means Strauss will be supported by assistant coach Andy Flower and team operations manager Phil Neale.

Hugh Morris, managing director England cricket, will also accompany the tourists on the 10-week tour, beginning on January 21.

Stability

"The selectors feel that it is important to have stability and continuity on the Caribbean tour given the events of the last few days," said national selector Geoff Miller.

"Andrew and I have also agreed that we will review the one-day captaincy at the end of the tour. Andrew is extremely comfortable with that."

Strauss, 31, added: "I am delighted to lead the team in the one-day internationals and Twenty20.

"I know I haven't played an ODI since the end of the World Cup in 2007 but I do feel that I have something to offer in that form of the game.

"Now this situation has been resolved we can now all unite and get about the business of winning cricket matches for England and winning them consistently."

The ECB are hopeful of appointing a permanent coach by the start of the English summer.

But for now the entire current coaching set-up will assist the squad for an assignment which includes four Tests, five one-day internationals and a one-off 20-over showdown.

Morris said: "We have a backroom team with a proven track record. They will all work very closely with Andrew Strauss during this tour with the sole aim of securing success."

Comments (13)

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John Slater says...

I don't hold with Craig's views I'm afraid. I think England change too much from the test team. If you can play cricket then you should be able to adapt your style of play to suit the situation. We need someone at the top of the order giving us stability. We lose wickets too early in the one day format and Strauss partnered with one of the flair players seems logical to me. A solid start gives the bat to ball players like Peitersen and Flintoff chance to open their shoulders. If you look at the other test nations their ODI teams are not much different from their Test teams so it begs the question why do we change so much?

Posted 10:33 11th January 2009

Iain Pope says...

With the one day side as it is at the moment, I'm not sure that Strauss's inclusion will be a problem. The line-up seems to fluctuate continuously anyway! As a like-for-like swap I would think Ian Bell would be the man to go, and he was watching his back anyway. My concern is still with the Twenty20 squad, and the England selectors refusal to acknowledge that there are specialists in this form of the game, and that 50 over and 20 over cricket require a different approach and therefore a different team selection.

Posted 22:52 10th January 2009

Sushil Dhakal says...

Andrew strauss can be the right person as a captain in test side at this time but as a one day captain he must have to improve his batting calliberre in shorter version of the game. There seems no option but to appoint strauss as a captain in both one day and test captain. To regain Ashes this summer there must be team effort. I expect Strauss can coordinate all the players to provide that and also can help Pieterson a important member of english cricket side to settle down and contribute his best at needed time.

Posted 04:40 10th January 2009

Christopher Grathwohl says...

There are plenty of batsmen in the current ODI line-up that I would take Strauss over in any match on current form alone in Test matches, plus how could you do anyworse? I think he'll finally feel the wrong done to him 3+ years ago has been fully-righted. Alot of people will be surprised by the performances Strauss will put on in the Carribean I'm betting. Call it blind faith if you will but the man is BEAMING!!! and I donot see any slip in form coming anytime soon no matter the format.

Posted 02:07 10th January 2009

Brian Huddart says...

I think that now is a time for consolidation, and that Strauss should look after both teams for the immediate future. Appointing another captain for the shorter game will smack of a knee-jerk reaction. Perhaps this will be the opportunity he needs to cement a place in the 1-day side. It's not as if the existing squad have shown any form.

Posted 20:50 9th January 2009

Paul Bell says...

Well, this is an entirely predictable move, but cannot surely be in the better interests of English cricket. We are simply not learning how to play and win in the short format game. For a long time, cricket pundits have bemoaned the lack of aggression in the top order. How is Strauss going to score at 10 an over in the power plays? - it just isn't his natural game and we have seen before that pushing, prodding and nurdling doesn't get us enough runs quickly enough. It's just too easy to study his scoring areas and set a field accordingly. He also lets far too many balls just pass by when they should be flashing to the boundary. Surely it isn't beyond our ability in a nation of 60 million people to find one or two with a bit of hand/eye coordination such that they can hit through the line of the ball. We seem to specialise in making ordinary bowling look good. Quite simply, our wayward bowling and lacklustre batting means that we never ever seem to put ourselves in a winning position in any limited overs game. We either never put the pressure on the opposition or when we get close to doing so, we let them off the hook. I wish Strauss well in a difficult situation, but many members of the team now need to step up to the plate and make their mark on the game.

Posted 20:41 9th January 2009

Charlie Hill says...

This is a crazy decision, I have no complaints about him being the test captain and dont doubt he could play in the one day side if in form. The problem I have is upto today he was not in the reckoning to play one day cricket for England, so how do you tell the player who will be dropped for him that thanks for the last 18 months but no thanks. In my eyes thats the same as what the whole argument between KP and Moores was about in the 1st place, M.V getting in the test team on the back of his captaincy and not his form with the bat????? Madness!

Posted 20:25 9th January 2009

Mark Stevens says...

Ha ha how funny, a South African replaces a South African as captain of England, and a Zimbo takes over as coach in place of the Englishman who himself replaced a Zimbo. Are there any Englishmen who play cricket?

Posted 20:17 9th January 2009

Danny Crane says...

i think this is a ridiclous decision, cant they get of the selectors at the same time as moores, i can see now why pietersen resigned cause they aint gota clue. i think strauss will be a failure in both forms of the game, i wana see pietersen get the job again or even flintoff.

Posted 18:50 9th January 2009

Errol Davis says...

Strauss may as well be given a chance as captain of the one-day side and show what he can do. While his inclusion in the one-day starting XI obviously means a change to the XI that last represented England...against India as I recall and thrashed 5-0...it may not be such a bad decision in more ways than one. In any case, the situation is to be reviewed after the WI tour but let's give him a chance. There is merit in having one captain of both the test and one-day sides, most will agree, so if Strauss does well, all well and good but if he's a disaster then by all means appoint someone else. Reading between the lines, Strauss seems to be comfortable with such an outcome to this experiment but I personally hope he comes good.

Posted 18:27 9th January 2009

John Rymer says...

Englang need stability first and foremost. Strauss is the only available choice after freddie was discarded. Maybe KP, Feddie and Bell can settle in as a good mid order and give the capain the support he will need. When the tourists return we will all have our own ideas but we must remember Strauss can bat, he must learn to accelerate the scoring at the right time.

Posted 18:13 9th January 2009

Ian O'dell says...

Finally the correct decision, Andrew Strauss should of been England captain as long ago as in Australia for the Ashes, its taken to long to get the decision right.

Posted 17:31 9th January 2009

Craig Hughes says...

i agree that strauss is the best man for the job in test matches but dont see how he can captain the ODI team when he hasent been selected for 18 months. This will mean somebody will have to be droped who was set to play from the original ODI team that was selected. I dont understand how he can go from not even beeing selected for the ODI squad to suddenly captain and presumably opening the batting. If they are going to review the ODI captain after the tour why not get one of the senior members of the side to captain the ODI leg of the tour and keep the side the same?

Posted 16:56 9th January 2009
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