Strauss Retires

[mikeyboy]

Andrew Strauss retires from all forms of cricket today . He was a natural leader of a team and had the full support of the team and management . Alistair Cook will take over , and first up a 4 test tour of India in november .

 

My view is that Strauss will be remembered as a decent captain and top fella who reclaimed the ashes in 2009 and defended them 18 months later .

 

He played for England 100 times and captained in 50 of them .

 

Mikeyboy

Edited August 29, 2012 by mikeyboy

[bigbill340]

It is a shame to see a player/captin of such quality go! but he is at the tail end of his career!

 

I think he done really well to lead us to two ashes wins, and should be remembered for that!

 

 

 

Bill

[mousemat]

I was shocked when he retired from all forms of cricket as he could still do a vey good job for his county.

 

It looks like we may need to take a step back to rebuild before we can move forward and challenge for the number 1 test spot again.

 

He was a fantastic captain and Cook has some massive boots to fill.

 

Moving forward I really hope is decides to continue his involvement in cricket as someone with his skill set has a lot to offer.

[pointer]

I looked at Strauss as a solid opening bat and a sound leader who had the benefit of a really good side on the up during his reign.

I am hoping the KP fiasco had nothing to do with his retirement, as i do think his batting was starting to decline.

One of the sidenotes to the increasing money the players earn from the game has been the extension of their careers. Whereas they were more inclined to pull the pin in their early 30s now they are squeezing what they can out of their games, this has led to more of them playing til late 30s and some to their 40s to the detriment of their stats. Once you have passed 32 i think you are on the slide physically.

[sinbad5]

England treats its skippers like shit. How many England captains have there been since the WSC war end, say 1980?

 

Brierley, Botham, Fletcher, Willis, Gower, Gatting, Gooch, Stewart, Atherton, Hussein, Vaughan, Trescothick, Flintoff, Strauss, Petersen, Cook and Embury, Chowdrey, Lamb and Butcher have each also captained a few each in that time.

 

How many Australian captain? Chappell, Hughes, Border, Taylor, Waugh, Ponting, Clarke and a handful by Gillie because Waugh or Punter was unavailable.

 

What does that tell you?

Edited September 2, 2012 by sinbad5

[mikeyboy]

England treats its skippers like shit. How many England captains have there been since the WSC war end, say 1980?

 

Brierley, Botham, Fletcher, Willis, Gower, Gatting, Gooch, Stewart, Atherton, Hussein, Vaughan, Trescothick, Flintoff, Strauss, Petersen, Cook and Embury, Chowdrey, Lamb and Butcher have each also captained a few each in that time.

 

How many Australian captain? Chappell, Hughes, Border, Taylor, Waugh, Ponting, Clarke and a handful by Gillie because Waugh or Punter was unavailable.

 

What does that tell you?

 

It tells me that Australia have had a winning habit for a lot of those 30 odd years , maybe the last 25 , or ever since the Windies went into decline . Winning captains get the backing of their national board .

 

Saying that , i think England bosses have messed up by giving the captaincy to guys with no idea over the years .

 

I'm thinking Willis ,Botham . Flintoff , Pietersen , Cowdrey ,

 

Trescothick , lamb ,Emburey and Butcher did a test match or 2 each as a fill in as vice captain ,while Fletcher was in the 70's .

 

I don't agree that they treat the captains badly , but the board bring issues on themselves by making bad calls .

Even now they are trying to see if there is a way to allow a Pietersen return possible . A meeting between Pietersen and Flower .

I think they should ( text , tweet for irony ) Pietersen to say , no chance matey you've fucked it .

 

Mikeyboy

[sinbad5]

It tells me that Australia have had a winning habit for a lot of those 30 odd years , maybe the last 25 , or ever since the Windies went into decline . Winning captains get the backing of their national board .

 

Saying that , i think England bosses have messed up by giving the captaincy to guys with no idea over the years .

 

I'm thinking Willis ,Botham . Flintoff , Pietersen , Cowdrey ,

 

Trescothick , lamb ,Emburey and Butcher did a test match or 2 each as a fill in as vice captain ,while Fletcher was in the 70's .

 

I don't agree that they treat the captains badly , but the board bring issues on themselves by making bad calls .

Even now they are trying to see if there is a way to allow a Pietersen return possible . A meeting between Pietersen and Flower .

I think they should ( text , tweet for irony ) Pietersen to say , no chance matey you've fucked it .

 

Mikeyboy

 

Yep, I meant the "few each" comment about the last four England captains listed only. I didn't write that very clearly.

 

Actually the Aussies had less wins than you might think - especially before 1999: Chappell, GS won 21/48, Hughes 4/28 (hence sacked), Border 32/93, Taylor 26/50, Waugh DEFINITELY had a winning habit a staggering 41/57, Gillie won 4/6, Punter 48/77 also really good, Clarke 9/15 so far.

 

I do think there is an issue of loyalty - the Aussie selectors stuck with Chappell, Border and Taylor even though they won 50% or less of the Tests they captained. (Lawry, Simpson and Benaud were also waaay below 50% wins - Chappell, IM was 15/30 - they stuck with all of them them for years and years too).

 

Every time an England captain loses a series the 'red tops' go wild. That really doesn't happen here when we lose one.

 

Anyway, we are in total agreement on Pietersen though!!!

Edited September 2, 2012 by sinbad5

[mikeyboy]

Yep, I meant the "few each" comment about the last four England captains listed only. I didn't write that very clearly.

 

Actually the Aussies had less wins than you might think - especially before 1999: Chappell, GS won 21/48, Hughes 4/28 (hence sacked), Border 32/93, Taylor 26/50, Waugh DEFINITELY had a winning habit a staggering 41/57, Gillie won 4/6, Punter 48/77 also really good, Clarke 9/15 so far.

 

I do think there is an issue of loyalty - the Aussie selectors stuck with Chappell, Border and Taylor even though they won 50% or less of the Tests they captained. (Lawry, Simpson and Benaud were also waaay below 50% wins - Chappell, IM was 15/30 - they stuck with all of them them for years and years too).

 

Every time an England captain loses a series the 'red tops' go wild. That really doesn't happen here when we lose one.

 

Anyway, we are in total agreement on Pietersen though!!!

 

Thanks for the stats Sinbad , Steve Waugh was one tough cookie and had an aura about him .

 

Don't think Pietersen will go away any time soon , damn !

 

Mikeyboy

[sinbad5]

Thanks for the stats Sinbad , Steve Waugh was one tough cookie and had an aura about him .

 

Don't think Pietersen will go away any time soon , damn !

 

Mikeyboy

 

Steve Waugh would have been an extraordinary individual even if he never picked up a bat. He raises money for a colony of children with leprosy in India and other stuff no one ever sees. He has said: "If you don't help people who are in need, it's just not cricket".

 

A common expression in Australia when he was playing was that he is the sort of man you would want beside you in the trenches in wartime. Not many people you could say that about.

[moza7]

 

 

Steve Waugh would have been an extraordinary individual even if he never picked up a bat. He raises money for a colony of children with leprosy in India and other stuff no one ever sees. He has said: "If you don't help people who are in need, it's just not cricket".

 

A common exp<b></b>ression in Australia when he was playing was that he is the sort of man you would want beside you in the trenches in wartime. Not many people you could say that about.

Waugh was lucky enough to inherit a very good legacy left by Border and Taylor.

As they say,Border stopped the Aussies losing,Taylor taught them to win and Waugh maintained their winning culture.

Waugh was the perfect man for the job to try and keep that very talented team hungry.

 

 

[pointer]

Waugh was lucky enough to inherit a very good legacy left by Border and Taylor.

As they say,Border stopped the Aussies losing,Taylor taught them to win and Waugh maintained their winning culture.

Waugh was the perfect man for the job to try and keep that very talented team hungry.

True he had the benefit of a great team behind him, but what i loved about Steve Waugh was when we were 4 down for nothing on a dodgy pitch with the bowlers on top you knew he was going to dig in and score runs.

This to me is the testament of a great batsman to make runs when the heat is on.

[batista275]

Strauss was a decent captain,I woudnt call him fantastic.Ashes wins are memorable all right but those were against fading Aussie teams

 

I dont rate usually rate captains based on the no of wins,rather i go with on field tactics,field setting,their gut feeling,knowing when to attacka nd defend. - Punter had a fantastic team and didnt have to do much to win.Tubby was the best tactician of the lot

 

Staruss was struggling big time with the bat for the last 3 years - averaged just 30.It was the right time for him to go.But maybe should have done on a winning note when England was no 1,no when your team got defeated by a pretty good Saffer team 2-0

[batista275]

True he had the benefit of a great team behind him, but what i loved about Steve Waugh was when we were 4 down for nothing on a dodgy pitch with the bowlers on top you knew he was going to dig in and score runs.

This to me is the testament of a great batsman to make runs when the heat is on.

 

AB was never a natural leader,he was forced to lead a re building Aus team.But he build a team basically on nothing,Tubby made them beleive that they could win and dominate.He made aggressive declerations - was the pioneer in that.Just used Warnie

 

Tugga was one of the best,just dominated every team,damn good captain.Aggresive from the outset.Wat a batsman he was!!!

 

Has anyone read Tuggas auto biography?"out of my comfort zone'???I am reading it right now,its probably one of the best written sports biographies

[pointer]

AB was never a natural leader,he was forced to lead a re building Aus team.But he build a team basically on nothing,Tubby made them beleive that they could win and dominate.He made aggressive declerations - was the pioneer in that.Just used Warnie

 

Tugga was one of the best,just dominated every team,damn good captain.Aggresive from the outset.Wat a batsman he was!!!

 

Has anyone read Tuggas auto biography?"out of my comfort zone'???I am reading it right now,its probably one of the best written sports biographies

I'll have to have a look at that book, i read his story written by Peter Fitzsimmons which was a great read.

I was at work listening to the radio when Steve Waugh was playing India at the SCG in his last test. It was pretty quiet over the xmas period so I said to old mate (another cricket buff) lets go so we shut up shop and got on the turps on the hill singing True Blue whilst his team mates chaired him around the ground. It was magic and sure beat working!