| Tweet |
Andrew Strauss
Those who betinplay note how England became the No.1 test team in the world last summer after their 4-0 victory against India. They will look to continue their dominance with test series against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and South Africa this year.
Strauss – who last played international cricket in August – has spoken positively about the year ahead, admitting that it could be the toughest 12 months of his time as England test captain.
He said: “The next 12 months will be the biggest test we've had yet, it's a different mindset being the hunted rather than the hunters. We'll have to retain that desperate desire to improve if we want to stay on top.”
“It's an exciting time for us. I'm certainly very excited about it, but we don't underestimate the size of the challenge. There are a lot of teams below us who want to knock us off our perch.”
The series against Pakistan kicks off 2012 for England, with both teams hoping that the cricket can create the headlines in the first time the two sides have met since the spot fixing scandal.
Referring to this series, Strauss said: “It will be a keenly contested series, as they always are, and the focus will be on the cricket. It is an opportunity to move on and that's the right way to go.”
Strauss will keep his focus though, no doubt about that. No matter what controversy surrounds the game of cricket, you just know that the England captain will be calm, collected and an excellent leader.
It is always more difficult to stay on top of course, especially with the likes of South Africa hopping to knock England off their perch in 2012. An improving West Indies will hope to prove a lot of people wrong against Strauss’ men too.
Referring to English summer, Strauss continued: “We've seen a resurgence in West Indies cricket in recent times, so that will be a challenge for us.”
“Hopefully early-season conditions will suit us more than them. And we all know about the qualities of South Africa, they've just finished an outstanding series against Australia.”
"They have a very good bowling attack and their record here is very good. They'll definitely be one of those teams looking to knock us off our perch and they'll be one of our bigger undertakings in the next 12 to 18 months.”
Luckily for Strauss, he has a fantastic team spirit to call upon and a group of players on top of their game. England’s players will be well rested come January 2012 and ready to show why they are the team to beat in the test arena.
Compare Cricket betting Odds