Strauss determined to cast off weight of history

In September 2006, when Andrew Strauss was overlooked as England captain for what turned out to be the ultimate Ashes Tour from Hell, his then-coach Duncan Fletcher consoled him with the words: "One day, you might thank me for this." Four years down the line, and with a wealth of experiences good, bad and downright ugly to fall back on, Fletcher's assertion is starting to look prophetic.

It's not simply that Strauss avoided the ignominy of leading England to a 5-0 whitewash last time around - that fate instead befell Andrew Flintoff, and such was the single-minded resolve of champion cricketers such as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist, it's hard to believe that a change of England leader could have significantly altered the result. More importantly from Strauss's point of view, by missing out four years ago, his time as captain was postponed until he as a player was ready, and on the eve of the 2010-11 campaign - with a starring role in last year's triumph to fall back on - it was hard to imagine anyone else in the hot seat.

"There's a relaxed excitement about the troops at the moment," Strauss told reporters at Lord's. "They feel ready and up for it, and determined to take the opportunities ahead of us. It's a tough tour, no doubt about it, but if you're prepared, there's nothing to be overawed about. We're out there to win, simple, and that's our goal. Every decision we've made is about us winning the Ashes, and none of us want any regrets at the end of it. We'll do everything in our capabilities to achieve that goal."

Regardless of the captain's brave words, the scale of the challenge that awaits England this winter is vast. Since their last series win in Australia in 1986-87, they have played 26 Tests in the country and emerged victorious in a paltry three, none of which have occurred with the Ashes still up for grabs. For the second time in as many tours, they travel Down Under as holders, but such was the provocation that that fact caused last time around, one might hesitate to claim it as an advantage.

In fact, in the entire 133-year history of Anglo-Australian rivalry, only two England captains have emerged victorious in consecutive home and away series - Len Hutton in 1953 and 1954-55, and Mike Brearley in 1977 and 1978-79. Michael Vaughan, the most successful Test captain in English history, had just one indelible series at the helm in 2005 before injury struck him down, while Mike Gatting - the last man to win the urn Down Under 24 years ago - had been sacked by the board before the Aussies returned to seek vengeance in 1989.

Five England squads have travelled to Australia in the past 20 years - led respectively by Graham Gooch, Mike Atherton, Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain and ultimately Flintoff - and each and every one has buckled beneath such a weight of history. But as he prepared to embark on the latest campaign, Strauss was visibly eager to shelve the pessimism of the past, and embrace the opportunities that await for him and his team in the coming months.

"Potentially this could be one of the greatest winters ever for English cricket, with not just the Ashes but the World Cup as well," he said. "For us to waltz over there, strut around, and think we are going to dominate would be wrong. But at the same time there is a great, deep, fundamental belief that we can go out there and win, and if we can turn over those previous statistics, then that will highlight the scale of the achievement."

The war of words began in earnest this week, with Kevin Pietersen dismissing the former Australia coach, John Buchanan, as a "nobody" following criticism of his team ethic, while the Aussies landed a PR blow in the small hours of Thursday morning by projecting the faces of Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke onto the Houses of Parliament, along with the message, "Don't forget to pack the urn".

Strauss, however, refused to be drawn into any sort of slanging match, much as he and Andy Flower had successfully ducked the barbs of Graeme Smith and Mickey Arthur prior to last winter's successful tour of South Africa. "If you come out with big comments about the opposition, they tend to come back to haunt you," he explained. "You can spend hours thinking of witty retorts, or you can spend hours thinking how to beat them. And ultimately actions speak louder than words."

That said, Strauss is fully expecting to come in for his fair share of flak from the Australian crowd, whom one journalist suggested might see in his posh, public-school demeanour shades of the legendary Douglas Jardine - not least if he actually sets out to win. "I'm not going to try and hide it," he responded. "You've just got to roll with it. Ponting was the pantomime villain in England last summer, and that may be the same for me over there. The Ashes is a healthy and serious rivalry, but generally it doesn't spill over."

With three first-class warm-up games leading into the Brisbane Test on November 25, Strauss conceded that there would be "no excuses" for any lack of preparation, not least because he and Flower have settled on the hard-nosed (but hard-to-argue-with) decision to exclude wives and families from the critical early stages of the tour. Without harking back unduly to the bitter experiences of four years ago, Strauss conceded that lessons had been learned from that ignominious campaign, not least the need for total focus on the task at hand.

"A lot of the players weren't involved back then, but the ones who were know how tough it is out there, and [they know] the type of cricket you need to play if you want to win out there," he said. "There were some lessons learnt about preparation, and how best to hit the ground running out there, and hopefully we'll acquit ourselves better.

"Until the end of the fifth Test we are two sides at war with each other," he added, a statement that implied there would be no repetition of the scenes at Adelaide four years ago, when Flintoff and Steve Harmison joined in with Australia's post-match celebrations following their incredible victory in the second Test. "At the end of the series, 11 guys will be feted as heroes and 11 will have failed in their task, so until the final Test is over, there's no point in being too hunky dory and friendly with the opposition. Our task is to go out there and beat them."

"I still maintain, if I'd been captain last time, the result wouldn't have been any different," he added. "It was a gradual erosion of confidence over the course of the tour for all of us. They were by far the better side, they had the bit between their teeth, and they outplayed us. But we head over there this time in a very good frame of mind and with realistic chances of winning the series. I'm very honoured and proud to be leading the side in those circumstances."