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Strauss out to prove himself again
Andrew Strauss is keen to show his debut century at Lord's was no fluke when England face New Zealand in the second Test on Thursday.
Andrew Strauss is keen to show his debut century at Lord's was no fluke when England face New Zealand in the second Test starting at Headingley on Thursday.
The Middlesex captain, on his home ground, became the first England batsman since John Hampshire against the West Indies at Lord's in 1969 to make a hundred in his first Test innings.
Strauss, 27, followed that up with 83 and was in sight of becoming the first England batsman to make hundreds in both innings of his Test debut when he was run out after Nasser Hussain's poor-call.
Hussain went on to make a match-winning hundred but such was Strauss's impact the former captain announced his retirement from all cricket afterwards saying he did not want to block younger men from England duty.
Not since Strauss's fellow left-hander Graham Thorpe, who made a hundred in the second innings of his debut against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1993, had an England batsman announced himself in such bold fashion.
But a stellar start is no guarantee of future success.
True Thorpe has won 88 England caps and counting but Hampshire's tally was a mere eight.
Strauss for one hopes he is in for the long haul.
"It's still very vivid, but it's quite distant because it's been a while since I scored that hundred and I realise the only way for me to succeed is to continue doing what I do all the time, work hard on my game and give myself the best chance," said the South African-born opening batsman on Tuesday.
"Expectations are going to be a little bit higher because I don't think peopleexpect you to do brilliantly on your debut and it was fantastic that I was able to score those runs," added Strauss, who came to England as a seven-year-old.
"But I'm trying to be pretty realistic in accepting that I'm going to have good days and bad days and the only thing I can control is the way I prepare for the game and if I do that properly I'm giving myself the best chance of doing well."
Thursday's match will be Strauss's first senior game at Headingley, a ground which is known for favouring seam bowling although both India and South Africa have made big Test scores there in the last two years.
And Strauss said: "By all accounts the Test wicket has actually played pretty well and it's best not to have any mental blocks when you go out there and just try and watch the ball."
England captain Michael Vaughan, whose knee injury paved the way for Strauss to star in England's seven-wicket win at Lord's, returns on his home ground.
Normally Vaughan would open the innings but following Strauss's debut the captain is set to drop to number four where he began his Test career.
"During the majority of my career I've opened the batting and in an ideal world I'd prefer to open, but we haven't really spoken about it yet," said Strauss.
"We'll have to wait and see but I'll do whatever I'm told to do."
