Strauss resignation may be first of many if Pietersen is allowed to return

Sports Journalist

Thursday 30 August 2012

When Andrew Strauss played his 100th Test match for England at Lord's earlier this month against South Africa, his team-mates presented him with 100 bottles of wine, as a mark of their esteem for their redoubtable captain.

Andrew Strauss will be replaced as England captain by Alastair Cook

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Neil Drysdale

Less than a fortnight later, the 35-year-old Middlesex batsman has retired from all forms of professional cricket and, while his replacement, Alastair Cook, is a talented fellow with the best part of his career in front of him, the cursory manner in which Strauss has waltzed out of the exit door raises plenty of questions about the alarming fashion in which England have regressed since they became the world's No.1-ranked side.

The news represents a fresh coup for the Proteas captain, Graeme Smith, who is making a habit of hounding his England counterparts into retirement.In 2003, it was Nasser Hussain who quit the job, then, five years later, Michael Vaughan, the architect of the triumphant 2005 Ashes series, announced he was departing.Now, with Strauss's decision to walk away, partly because of his recent poor form and partly his unwillingness to contemplate another lengthy winter away from his family in India, Smith could be forgiven for basking in his psychological disintegration of opponents, which has steered the South Africans to the summit of the ICC rankings.Yet, it was difficult not to feel another individual from the Cape was more instrumental in Strauss bidding adieu than Smith. In the last few days, the silence from Kevin Pietersen has been deafening, and, regardless of the claims from Strauss that his team-mate's behaviour had nothing to do with his retirement, it is difficult not to believe he regarded the recent text-message scandal, in which Pietersen sent critical comments about his England colleagues to the South Africans in the middle of a Test match, as a wilful act of betrayal.When Strauss was appointed captain early in 2009, following the public fall-out between Pietersen and the former England coach, Peter Moores, it marked the start of an uneasy relationship between the big, brash KP and the quieter, more phlegmatic (and sensible) Strauss.For a while, at least when the English regained the Ashes that summer and subsequently demolished Australia in their own backyard less than 18 months later, there was no significant problem in their relationship. The pair were never especially matey, but they could co-exist and work together for the greater good of the English set-up. Yet the schism between the duo has coincided with the collective decline of the England and Wales Cricket Board, and that surely isn't a coincidence.Vaughan certainly reflected the widespread mood yesterday when he remarked: "It is a sad day when somebody gives up the England captaincy, when somebody has done the job with such integrity, and in the manner he has led the side."It will be an even sadder day if Pietersen, who is scheduled to sit down for talks with his ECB employees this afternoon, is allowed an opportunity to apologise for his past transgressions and regains his berth in advance of next summer's resumption of Ashes hostilities.Yet sometimes, pragmatism outweighs principle in these circumstances and the Lord's brigade may feel that they cannot afford to lose both Strauss and Pietersen before tackling Australia once again. If they veer down that road, though, they should be conscious of the depth of resentment which has surrounded Pietersen's actions of late. Expressed simply, any notion of the latter being permitted to stick to his defence that his criticism of colleagues was just "banter" could herald other leading England players emulating Strauss's example by calling time on their careers. In which circumstances, the only people with smiles on their faces would be Ricky Ponting & Co.It is doubly unfortunate that Strauss should be bowing out in a swirl of speculation and rumour, because, for most of the last decade, he has been a shining light in his adopted country's success.In his 100 international appearances, he averaged more than 40, despite his travails in the last couple of seasons, and finished with 21 Test hundreds, only one behind the England record held by Geoff Boycott, Wally Hammond and Colin Cowdrey. Even those who argued that he was overly conservative as a captain could scarcely quibble with his achievements, whether in the back-to-back Ashes triumphs, or the inexorable rise to No.1 in the ICC charts.Although he could only manage a highest score of 37 in his final three Tests, it was typical of the man that he spoke honestly about his problems and was dignified in explaining his retirement yesterday. His farewell embodied the genial, but steely, character who did England proud.Yet one suspects this affair isn't over yet. And he won't be the sole retiree.

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Strauss resignation may be first of many if Pietersen is allowed to return

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