Andrew Strauss: Testing Times - In Pursuit of the Ashes [Hardcover]

Many writings from sports stars are, unsurprisingly, unsatisfying as reading material because they are self-centred. Even with "ghost writers" the objective appears to be the glorification of the subject and the milking of the fans of a young sports personality for sales figures whilst he/she is still in the public eye. Sceptical maybe, but largely a reasonable and expected viewpoint?
I think that Mr Andrew Strauss, in this volume [I have not read his others] shows more maturity, more objectivity, more courtesy and appreciation of others in his sport, than appears in the usual "sportsman book". He does not flannel about his team mates, nor does he glorify them, but he gives a friendly assessment of them. He is most interesting to me, in the passages where he explains the mind games and mind training which he imposes on himself.
By happy coincidence I finished the read a day before his remarkably strong-minded second-innings century in the First Test against Australia 2010. That, following a third-ball duck in the first innings, was a powerful example of all he wrote about and set a captain's example that was so effective in the England performance that ensued.
Jeanmas. 12/10.

I'm somewhat surprised that on-one has reviewed this book as there were a shedload of people queuing up for Andrew to sign copies when I bought mine in early October. Anyway, reading Andrew Strauss's second book immediately after tackling `Coming back to me' by Marcus Trescothick was probably slightly unfair as the Trescothick book has won awards and is more than just a cricket book.

The book charts Andrew's cricket career from the period just after he regained his form in the final knock against New Zealand following his omission from the Test Squad to Sri Lanka. It's an honest and modest summary of both his and the team's achievements culminating in the fantastic Ashes victory in the summer of 2009. It's interesting to read an inside view of how the team responded to the humiliating defeat in the 4th Test at Headingley and then bounced back in the Oval with Stuart Broad's match winning spell of bowling. Andrew showers much praise on Freddie Flintoff emphasising that his contribution to the team is much more than statistics reflect. Otherwise, there is little insight into other characters in the England team and (as you would expect), no outright criticism of them such as we have seen from ex-players who have released their autobiographies after retiring from the game or international duty.

The one aspect regarding the Ashes win which does not receive comment from Andrew is the fact that the series was unavailable on free view television; something which for me made the series less absorbing than the 2005 series had been. How the players feel about their lesser exposure is not explored and it would be interesting to have learnt some inside views on this controversial topic.

So, in summary this is an interesting if not particularly absorbing read and I might be tempted to read an alternative book on the Ashes series written by someone who has more freedom of speech.

Andrew Strauss is one of a dozen South African born players to represent England at cricket. As with Tony Greig and Kevin Pieterson, Strauss was appointed England captain. However, it was not all plain sailing. In 2007 he played his last one day international for two years. He was also dropped from the Test match team after 43 tests. As Strauss had gone thirteen Test matches without scoring a century - his highest score was 96 and he averaged 27 -this was hardly surprising. Not selected for the tour of Sri Lanka he agreed to play for Northern Districts in New Zealand and would be on site if the selectors chose him for the tour of the islands that winter. He recognised he was in a difficult mental state, playing badly, missing his family and living in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country.

As is often the case a minor event has a major impact. Strauss was playing his last innings for Northern Districts when he lobbed an easy catch to mid-on. The catch was dropped and Strauss went on to make a hundred. "It was a losing cause ......but this innings set me on the road to recovery and redemption." Chosen for the Test series Strauss quickly regained his form, replaced Michael Vaughan as an opener and hit his highest test score of 177 in the Third Test at Napier. He attributed his success to positive thinking, adopting a winning frame of mind, setting clear goals and visualising how he would achieve those goals. Although New Zealand focused his mind it did not completely convince him that he was consistent Test material. Despite winning the man of the series against New Zealand the following summer he remained on what he called the "batsman-in-danger" list during the tours of South Africa and India. In the latter he achieved the rare feat of scoring hundreds in both innings of a Test match.

Strauss was elevated to the captaincy after the split between his predecessor, Kevin Pieterson and the team coach, Peter Moores. He had held the position before in the absence of Andrew Flintoff and was considered a front runner. His previous period as captain included the notorious Ovalgate match in which Pakistan refused to leave their dressing room after the umpires claimed the ball had been tampered with. Although England were slated in their New Year tour of the West Indies Strauss scored three centuries and partial redemption for the team was obtained when they beat the Windies in the Test and ODI series back in England prior to taking on the Australians for the Ashes in 2009.

Having been whitewashed in the 2007 Ashes series England had an inauspicious start in 2009, hanging on for a draw in the opening match at Sohpia Gardens, winning at Lords, drawing at Edgbaston and being comprehensively beaten by an innings at Headingly. Immediately after the Headingly Test there was a two hour team meeting to apply closure to such a heavy defeat. All the positive points were emphasised, home advantage, all to play for and the return of Flintoff to boost the ranks. Thus armed Strauss was ready to meet the biggest challenge of his cricketing career. You make tour own luck and winning four of the tosses, including the one at the Oval, was an example. It was a batting wicket and, coupled with some wayward bowling by the Australians, England were able to win by 197 runs with Strauss taking the England man of the series award.

This is not the best book I've read on cricket. There's no real characterisation, although Strauss does express the need for single-mindedness for success in sport. Strauss is still involved in the England set-up and there's not much of a critique of the state of the game. In fact there's not very much of anything and although cricket aficionados will lap it up, the general reader will find it less than intellectually taxing. The pictures are far more interesting than the text. Two stars only.