Andrew Strauss defends resting James Anderson – Cricket News Update
England’s Test skipper, Andrew Strauss, believes that the current schedule of international cricket is quite hectic and it is imperative for the management to use its players in a sensible manner.
This is the reason why the left-handed batsman supports the selectors’ decision to rest James Anderson for the third Test against West Indies, which is scheduled to begin today at Birmingham.
The home team has already sealed the series by winning the initial two matches at Lord’s and Trent Bridge. For the dead-rubber, the English selectors, headed by Geoff Miller, have opted to rest their spearhead, Anderson.
The 29-year-old has been a prolific performer for England since last three years and has played a massive role in making England the number one ranked Test team of the globe.
The Poms have some crucial series coming up, including the battle against South Africa later this summer, when Strauss’ men will defend their top ranking in the longer version of the sport and this is precisely the reason why the management wants to adopt
a rotational policy - in order to keep the players fresh.
Strauss understands that an international cricketer wants to play in every single Test match but the think-tank of every team has to take many things into account.
The English captain said, "Jimmy Anderson's missed out on this one, with good reason. It's a tough thing for any player to not play in a Test match, but with the schedules that there are in international cricket, from a management point of view you've got
to manage your resources sensibly.”
While commenting on the sudden retirement of Kevin Pietersen from limited-over internationals, Strauss expressed that it is the star-batsman’s personal decision and the whole team respects that. The 35-year-old cricketer further added that Pietersen has
set his priorities and the right-handed batsman knows what he wants to achieve in his career.
"Kevin's made that decision. We all respect it. He went into it with his eyes open and he knew what the ramifications were. We're all just looking forward now. It's nice that we're clear and everyone knows where they stand," Strauss added.