Strauss seeks to revive spirit of 2005
Ten years on from the 2005 Ashes, England are looking to one of their heroes in that series for inspiration
ESPNcricinfo staff
17-May-2015
Ten years on from the 2005 Ashes, England are looking to one of their heroes in that series for inspiration. Andrew Strauss has taken over after a period of turmoil with a goal, as Jonathan Liew writes in the Telegraph, of building a team "that the public can fall in love with all over again". How will he go about this? Consulting far and wide and focusing on a strong team culture will be the foundations:
Strauss thinks a lot about leadership. How to build a team. How to bring people with you. How to think outside the box. Upon assuming the England captaincy, he read voraciously: Moneyball, the diaries of Winston Churchill, military history, books on politics and business. Along with Andy Flower, they applied the short, sharp, high-intensity ethos of American football training to English cricket. And he remains keen to borrow ideas from other sports. "For us to be doing everything through the prism of our experiences in the game of cricket is the wrong way to look at it," he says.
So, who does he admire? "The one that stands out is the All Blacks. The All Blacks have a very strong team identity, and always have done. Look at Manchester United under Alex Ferguson. Everyone knew what it stood for. Everyone knew what was expected of the players, what was allowable and what wasn't allowable."