Name:

Strauss, Andrew J

Nickname:

Straussy, Levi

Date of Birth:

02 Mar 1977

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa

Career:

Test: 2004 - 2012
ODI: 2003 - 2011
T20: 2005 - 2009

Teams:

Middlesex (Regional)
England (Country)

Strauss on emphatic Ashes win: history will remember this fondly

Andrew Strauss: Ashes winning skipper took England to No 1

Andrew John Strauss was born on 2 March 1977 in Johannesburg and moved to England when he was 6 years.

He was a left handed opening batsman who played county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club. Strauss favoured scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots.

Strauss scored 7,037 Test runs at an average of 40.91 placing him ninth in England's all-time run-scorers list at the time of his retirement.

Strauss made his first-class debut in 1998, and his One Day International debut in Sri Lanka in 2003. He quickly rose to fame on his Test match debut replacing the injured Michael Vaughan at Lord's against New Zealand in 2004.With scores of 112 and 83 (run out) in an England victory, and the man of the match award, he became only the fourth batsman to score a century at Lord's on his debut and was close to becoming the first Englishman to score centuries in both innings of his debut.

Strauss suffered a drop in form during 2007, and as a result he was left out of the Test squad for England's tour of Sri Lanka, and announced that he was taking a break from cricket. After a poor tour for England, Strauss was recalled into the squad for the 2008 tour of New Zealand and subsequently re-established himself in the side with a career-best 177 in the third and final Test of that series, and a further three centuries in 2008.

Having deputised for Michael Vaughan as England captain in 2006, Strauss was appointed on a permanent basis for the 2008/09 tour of the West Indies following Kevin Pietersen's resignation.

Strauss took England to No 1 for the first time in 31 years after the home Ashes win in 2009. He had an even sweeter victory in Australia in 2010, as England retained the Ashes on tour for the first time since 1986-87. He also had a 4-0 whitewash to usurp No. 1-ranked India in 2011.

Strauss announced his retirement from cricket on 29 August 2012 after 100 Test appearances. He became the Director of Cricket for England's cricket team in 2015 and appears as an expert commentator on TV.

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter