Strauss believes he has a duty to protect Test cricket

May 21st, 2009 LONDON - England skipper Andrew Strauss refuses to be flustered by his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting's taunt that he will be ruthlessly targeted by the Aussies. Boldly declaring that Strauss would be Australia's No.1 target for the Ashes series, Ponting begun a merciless psychological campaign that has been used successfully against previous opposition leaders.

May 19th, 2009 LONDON - After handing out a 2-o series defeat to the West Indies, England cricket captain Andrew Straus is ready to take on the Australians in this summer's Ashes series. "Each time I think about the Ashes, I remember what it was like in the past.

May 9th, 2009 LONDON - England cricket captain Andrew Strauss hailed his new boys as the team stormed to a 10-wicket win over the West indies at Lord's yesterday. Captain Strauss particularly praised Ravi Bopara, Graeme Swann and Graham Onions for their respective performances in the match, saying they were inspired.

May 6th, 2009 LONDON - England cricket captain Andrew Strauss has said the ongoing second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has undermined his side's preparation for the Test series against the West Indies. "The important thing is that Test cricket gets the attention it deserves.

April 22nd, 2009 LONDON - Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan is convinced that current incumbent Andrew Strauss will become an outstanding England captain, but has warned him not to read too much into or about Ashes fever. "Andrew Strauss will be a great captain, with stability, consistency and maturity," The Sun quoted Vaughan, as saying.

April 8th, 2009 LONDON - England cricket captain Andrew Strauss has admitted that he is not ideally suited to Twenty20 cricket, and therefore, he agreed with the selectors that there was need for him to stand down and have someone else in charge for the duration of the second ICC World Twenty20 tournament. "I hope that my one-day innings, when I scored 79 off 61 balls, showed there is more to my game than being a stodgy test opener.

April 8th, 2009 LONDON - Michael Vaughan's return to form will be crucial to England in the forthcoming Ashes series, feels captain Andrew Strauss. 'If Vaughan is scoring runs and -playing well it will be a massive bonus for us to have him in the side, there is no doubt about that,' Strauss said.

March 30th, 2009 LONDON - England captain Andrew Strauss has blocked Kevin Pietersen's request to fly home. Pietersen asked for permission to return to London for 48 hours before the third One-day international against the West Indies at Barbados Friday.

March 27th, 2009 LONDON - England's cricket captain Andrew Strauss has offered his strongest support to Andy Flower to become the team's new head coach. Strauss says he has loved working with Flower on this Caribbean tour and wants the relationship to continue beyond the summer Ashes series.

March 21st, 2009 GUYANA - England cricket captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower have formed a close partnership, and there are reports in the air that the former wants the latter to continue mentoring the team. "A very close one," was how Strauss defined his relationship with Flower.

January 20th, 2009 LONDON - England captain Andrew Strauss has asked his teammates to put behind the bitter episode that portrayed the team as disjointed and take more responsibility to win games as they head to West Indies. The England team embarked on its tour of the West Indies with a new captain and a stand-in coach in former Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower.

January 9th, 2009 LONDON - England's new Test captain Andrew Strauss has also been appointed to lead in One-dayers and Twenty20 matches during the upcoming tour of the West Indies. Strauss was named captain of the Test side for the Caribbean tour following Kevin Pietersen's resignation.

January 8th, 2009 LONDON - National selector Geof Miller defended England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) action in the wake of the row that led to the departure of captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores. Pietersen resigned as the England captain after falling out with Moores on several issues that latest being the issue of former skipper Michael Vaughan's exclusion from the tour of West Indies.

January 8th, 2009 LONDON - Newly-appointed England captain Andrew Strauss Friday said he has the support of Kevin Pietersen. Strauss was appointed the captain after Pietersen resigned dramatically Wednesday having lost a battle of brinkmanship with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over his differences with coach Peter Moores.

January 7th, 2009 LONDON - Andrew Strauss will captain England cricket team on the tour to West Indies next month after Kevin Pietersen resigned Wednesday morning. Strauss, 31, led England in five Tests in 2006, with an impressive series win against Pakistan.