World Cup triumph has to be the start of something bigger, says Andrew Strauss
Andrew Strauss has reminded world champions England that the challenge ahead of them will be to kick-on from their triumph to evolve as a team. Strauss called into memory the debacles that followed England’s major triumphs in the Ashes 2005 at home, and the Ashes 2011 in Australia.
The former England skipper has always been known to be a man with his feet always on the ground. So, despite the World Cup heroics of the English boys, Strauss has already sent out warning bells of wisdom. Strauss was at Lord’s to setup the Ruth Strauss Foundation, in honour of his late wife, ahead of its inaugural event during the Ashes Test at Lord’s next month.
"This is a really good opportunity to learn from what's been before in 2005 from a playing perspective and what happened to us in 10/11 in Australia. This isn't the end. This has to be the start of something bigger. Nothing ever stays the same. Players change, players get injured, others teams get better. If for one moment you think you have cracked it you are already on the way down again. And that is the challenge for this one day team," Strauss was quoted saying by Cricbuzz.
Strauss joined the ECB as the director of cricket right after the 2015 World Cup. He was pivotal in England’s shift of focus towards the shorter format of the game. However, he stepped down from his role as England’s director of cricket in 2018, because of his wife’s illness. Back in the commentary box for the 2019 World Cup, Strauss was reminded of the frustration he had voiced during England’s appalling performance at the 2015 edition.
"Not because of anything those guys were doing. But the same mistakes made in the two previous World Cups that I'd been involved in (2003 and 2007) and prior to my time as well, were being made again. Playing the wrong brand of cricket, picking Test players and hoping they'd put some of the best one day players in the world under pressure. Playing a conservative brand of cricket and trying to justify the unjustifiable. I still remember my quotes from the 2007 World Cup that two threes are as good as a six!” Strauss said.
Strauss, who appointed Trevor Bayliss as head coach, also kept Eoin Morgan as the captain of the side, despite his shortcomings in 2015. Together with Bayliss and Morgan, he paved the way for a comeback in ODI cricket for the English side. Now, as England, ranked the no.1 ODI side, have won the ultimate prize, it is time for Morgan to decide on his future as captain of the side. Strauss had his say on the matter.
"He has earned the right to do it. The question for him is what he wants to achieve here because he has climbed Everest. That is the question for all the players. I certainly hope that what he is doing right now, unless he is clear he wants to carry on, is just taking a bit of time to reflect where he is at. To stay on as captain he needs to be driven and motivated to push people on as he has done over the last four years," Strauss added.
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