Credit goes to Strauss for taking a brave move
ANDREW STRAUSS’S decision to switch counties in order to find some form ahead of the India’s impending visit has been criticised in some quarters, but I can’t see a problem with it.
It’s unprecedented, innovative and Somerset should be applauded for being so accommodating. It’s also encouraging to see Strauss, now retired from international one-day cricket, accepting he needs time in the middle, rather than putting his feet up for a month.
Clearly there’s a problem with the scheduling if the captain of England has to go to such lengths to find an opportunity to prepare appropriately for a major Test series, but there are plenty of good reasons why the ECB shoehorn the majority of domestic one-day fixtures into this period of the summer.
In any case, talk of Strauss’s demise and a supposed weakness against left-arm seamers is greatly over exaggerated – he didn’t look too shabby against Mitchell Johnson last winter did he?
Sure, his scores don’t look too clever against what was the worst Sri Lankan attack I’ve seen for ages, but he only had four innings and much like Kevin Pietersen has, he’ll come good again. Taunton, with its flat track and small boundaries will provide the perfect setting for him to get back in the runs.