Andrew Strauss: 'How you win is as important as winning'

Andrew Strauss has a strong claim to be England's most successful Test captain of the modern era: Ashes victories both home and away, more than twice as many wins as losses in charge, and a rise to the top of the ICC's Test rankings clinched with a whitewash against India.

And yet, as Strauss reflects on his career, he has a lingering sense that his team could have achieved more than they did. "We felt like we'd achieved everything we wanted to," Strauss said, "but there was something slightly missing. And it was that excitement, that feeling of pioneering, trying new things. If I had my time again, maybe I would do things differently."

That view is informed, in part, by Strauss's career since his playing retirement in 2012. As England's managing director, he was an instigator of their white-ball revolution. Last year, back in the role on an interim basis, he appointed Rob Key to his old, position, and Key in turn then chose Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes as Test coach and captain.

"That's a reflection I've had for many years, starting with the white-ball revolution in 2015: that there are different ways to play the game," Strauss said. "As I'm a bit older and have less hair now, my thinking on this has changed a bit from, 'It's only about winning' to, 'It's also about how you win'.

"That's what Stokes and McCullum have done now: they've won, but they've won with style. They're questioning centuries-held conventions in the game - and doing it with good reason. The game has evolved and changed dramatically over the last few years."

But Strauss's perspective has also changed by events in his personal life. Five years ago, his wife Ruth was diagnosed with an incurable lung cancer that affects non-smokers. She passed away later that year, survived by her husband and their sons Luca and Sam.

Strauss set up the Ruth Strauss Foundation in 2019 to provide support for families and raise awareness of non-smoking lung cancers, and Thursday marks the fifth annual Red for Ruth Day at Lord's.

"Seeing her courage and her bravery, you completely change your perspective in life about what's important, where you get fulfilment and where purpose lies," Strauss said. "I was very proud of what I was able to achieve in an England shirt but, in many ways, that was about me achieving my own goals and ambitions.

"This is something much greater than me. I know how hard it is for all those families. It just breaks my heart that every day, there are hundreds of kids being put in the situation that my kids were put in. We can't change that, but we can make it a little bit easier. If we're able to do that, that warms my soul and I know it'll be warming Ruth's soul too."

The foundation has raised millions of pounds through previous Red for Ruth days, but the money itself is not the point. As Strauss puts it: "The Ruth Strauss Foundation is not here to raise money. The Ruth Strauss Foundation here is here to help as many people as possible."

But the Ashes provides an opportunity that other series do not: "People are going through this from all walks of life in all parts of the country, many of whom have never heard of Cricket or the Ruth Strauss Foundation. The Ashes Test match is hopefully a time when people that perhaps aren't always watching cricket are suddenly tuning in."

In the past 12 months, the foundation has rolled out peer support groups for both the children and surviving spouses of people with incurable cancer. "People feel a really strong kind of desire and yearning to talk to people who've been through something similar to them," Strauss explained.

"It's great having professional help, but it's equally powerful just to talk to other people who've gone through it. And I think that's even more the case for kids: kids find it hard to speak to adults, but they find it easier to speak to other kids. More broadly, [it's about] having a conversation about death, which we're just not very good at in this country."

In Strauss's own case, "It was one of those situations that my friends and family, they just weren't qualified to help me. And so I did reach out to people that had been through something similar; I hung on their every word. And of course for people that have been through it, it's a lovely thing to share their experiences but also to remember their loved ones."

There was no shortage of criticism for England on Wednesday: for their selection, their catching, their lengths, their body language, their willingness to speak to Australia's players. As Lord's turns red on Thursday, perhaps it will provide an opportunity to remember that there are more important things to worry about.