Andrew Strauss is a stylish and fluent South Africa-born left hander who has a penchant for smashing the ball square of the wicket - on either sides. He burst onto the scene in his first Test which was against New Zealand in May 2004 smashing 112 and 83 to help England win by 7 wickets. He was only the 4th batter to score a 100 on debut at Lord's and almost went onto become the first England player to hit 2 centuries on debut.

Strauss was born in South Africa in 1977, and moved to England 6 years later. He joined Middlesex and has been playing with the first team since 1998 representing the team in more than 400 games. He was selected on the England's tour to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2003 but his presence was restricted to only the ODIs with mixed results.

He was handed his first cap when he was chosen for the Test series against the Kiwis and he started with a bang but the rest of the tour turned out to be a far less successful as Strauss could get only 1 fifty. Lord's remained his favourite ground as he hit another century against the West Indies. In the 2004-05 season Strauss was on the squad to his native, South Africa and the homecoming happened in fairytale fashion as he hit back to back hundreds in the Test series and cemented his place at the top of the order. His first Ashes too, was one to remember as he smashed 2 centuries and helped England win their first Ashes since the 1980's.

Strauss was handed captaincy in the shorter format soon after a good tour to India but he had to endure a 5-0 whitewash but the board chose to keep faith in the left-hander and made him the official skipper for the tour to Pakistan. After a promising start Strauss' form began to decline and he was soon out of the England team in 2007. Strauss then announced that he was going to take a break from cricket after what he described as a "long, tiring and immensely frustrating 12 months." His comeback in the tour to NZ didn't start well but he shone in the 3rd Test smashing a career best 177 which eventually gave him a new lease of life.

He continued to do well for England and was appointed as their captain again on 7 January 2009 and along with coach, Andy Flower has helped England scale the heights and vie for the top spot in cricket.

He retired from ODIs after the 2011 World Cup after England bowed out in the quarter-final. He led England to the No. 1 spot in Tests after his side white-washed India 4-0 at home. However, his side lost the following Pakistan series in the UAE 3-0. A Test victory at Colombo soon after helped his side level a hard-fought series in Sri Lanka 1-1 they took confidence into the home series against West Indies, which they won quite comfortably by a margin of 2-0. Then came the acid Test of facing South Africa. Though playing at home, Strauss and his boys did not perform well and they lost the 3-match 2-0 and with it, the number one status too. The England skipper announced his retirement from the longest format soon after having featured in 100 Tests.

After his cricketing career, Strauss was roped in by English broadcaster Sky Sports and he became a commentator voicing his opinions about the game for all major events, including the 2013 Ashes series in England.

Strauss is married to an Australian actress Ruth McDonald in 2003 and they are blessed with two sons - Sam and Luca. Already Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), Strauss was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours.


By Vishaal Loganathan