London, March 27: England captain Andrew Strauss believes his side’s chances of successfully defending the Ashes have been boosted by his decision to miss the recent tour of Bangladesh.
Strauss and pace bowler James Anderson were both rested in Bangladesh as England took the chance to blood new players and give Alastair Cook the captaincy during the 2-0 Test series win.
Some pundits and former players criticised Strauss’s decision and said he should lead the team at all times.
While it is an argument he understands, Strauss insists England were right to prioritise the defence of the Ashes in Australia later this year and the World Cup in Asia in 2011.
“We have some really important cricket coming up. The Ashes is a huge series for us and the World Cup is a huge one-day series. We need to be peaking there,” Strauss said.
“I can understand the argument that the captain should be there all the time but I still think it has been the right decision in the long-term interests of the England side. “Come the Ashes we will need all the energy and enthusiasm we can muster. We have to look at ways of getting the most out of our players when we need them to be playing at their best.
“I genuinely believe the benefits of me taking time off will be seen later on in the year.
“The break has done its job. I feel refreshed and ready to go. I can’t wait to get out there and play.”
Strauss does not envisage any problem taking the reins back from Cook, who made a few tactical errors in Bangladesh but otherwise impressed with his leadership.
But he has warned his England players they will need to improve substantially if they are to mount a successful Ashes campaign on Australian soil for the first time since 1986-87.
Strauss said: “We head into the season in a good frame of mind after a generally successful winter and now we need to move forward and continue that winning momentum for the next six months.
“To win in Australia you have to do a lot of things outstandingly well and we probably haven’t done enough of that over the winter.
“I have some thoughts on how we can improve over the next nine months and now is the time to start implementing them.
“It was fantastic to see some guys in Bangladesh who hadn’t been involved in the Test team have a go. Steve Finn has done fantastically well, Tim Bresnan really enhanced his credentials.
“The batsman did a really good job and went on to get big scores, which will be crucial, and the bowlers will have benefited from the conditions out there too.”
———Agencies