Filed under: Cricket, England Cricket, World Cup, ODIs
We have seen Andrew Strauss say exactly the right things before. It is one of the reasons why he is the perfect man for the England captaincy.He is judged on whether he gets it right on the pitch but he is also a leader with how he conducts himself off it, with the finest example being when Pakistan were embroiled in a spot-fixing scandal last year and England were their opponents.
So when he talked about heading to the World Cup and bringing home the trophy, it was what fans, team-mates and administrators wanted to hear before he boarded the plane to Dhaka for preparations to start ahead of the tournament.
But Strauss would be forgiven if he treated the next six weeks as a necessary evil. It is hardly a tournament that is capturing the imagination of the country.
Football World Cups last a month but there are blink-and-you'll-miss-it periods where most games are must-see events. The cricket World Cup is a drawn-out tournament, a marathon slog that will mean Strauss and his team-mates will be back home in April if they win it.
And Strauss would be right to feel aggrieved at the World Cup depriving his team of a proper celebration after their momentous Ashes win in Australia.
England had not won Down Under in 24 years and there should have been a homecoming party to match the festivities when Michael Vaughan's men won the little urn back from the Aussies in 2005.
Instead, Strauss signed a few autographs at Heathrow airport when he touched down after a seven-match one-day series to prepare for a tournament fans care little about. Four days later and he was back on the plane to fly out for the competition hosted in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
"The nature of international cricket is that you move onto the next thing," Strauss said. "When we're old and grey we'll look over the footage of the Ashes series and still be very proud of what we achieved.
"It will go down as one of the highlights if not the highlight of our careers. But now is not the time to look back, it's time to look forward and if we win the Ashes and the World Cup in the space of six months it will certainly go down as the highlight of our careers."
England's preparations for the tournament also means there is little to get excited over - the Australia team they defeated so convincingly over five Tests managed to beat them 6-1 in the one-dayers.
They also have Eoin Morgan out due to a finger injury sustained in the fourth one-day international.
Strauss admitted: "Over the last 12 to 18 months he's been the standout batsman for us in one-day cricket and we all see the World Cup as a forum to showcase your talent and skills.
"He's bitterly disappointed to miss out but it's the nature of the beast that you're going to get injuries."
We may not be getting excited over the World Cup, but Strauss insists he still has the motivation to lead England, rather than bow out at the top after Ashes glory.
"I still feel there is so much room for improvement in our side and I still feel very motivated, fit and healthy," he said.
"When you look at the challenges coming up this summer, Sri Lanka and India are two massive series and we still want to be No 1 in the world.
"With South Africa coming up it will be a great chance for us to achieve it. You have to roll with the tide to a certain extent, if you're still enjoying it in a year or two and see if we're still progressing as a side. That will be the barometer for me."
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/02/14/Andrew-strauss-cricket-one-day-world-cup-england/
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