By The Numbers: Andrew Strauss

Cricket365
August 19, 2012

England captain Andrew Strauss celebrates his 100th Test cap as the bell rings at Lord's for the third Test against South Africa. It is also his 50th as skipper, so we take a look back at his career in numerical form.

1 – The number of counties Strauss has played for. The epitome of loyalty, Strauss made his debut for Middlesex (which uses Lord's as its base) in 1997 and has never looked elsewhere.

48 – His scores over 50. In 176 Test innings, most of them as opener, he has made 21 centuries and 27 half-tons, the highest of which reached 177, against New Zealand in 2008 when he was on the brink of being dropped.

20 – Out in the first over. Strauss doesn't tend to give his wicket away and has only been out in his first six balls a few times. He has only one first-ball duck to his name.

103.44 – Highest innings strike rate. Straussy's not the most attacking of batsmen, but in January 2011 he made 60 against the Aussies in just 58 deliveries. Usually, his strike rate is a calmer 49.

865 – Fours hit. He's a technically correct batsman and can reach the boundary with ease, but he rarely goes the aerial route. He only has 10 sixes in 99 Tests.

7016 – Number of Test runs. In the second Test against South Africa at Headingley, Strauss passed the 7000-run mark, joining eight other Englishmen to pass that score, including Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart and… Kevin Pietersen.

3 – Opening partners. Marcus Trescothick, Ian Bell and Alastair Cook have opened the batting with Strauss, and Cook is by far his most regular partner. Their best opening stand is 229, while Strauss' best stand is with Trescothick, when they made 291 against the West Indies in 2004.

47 – Tests won, out of 99. Strauss's most lucrative opponents are the West Indies, who he's beaten 11 times, while of those 47, only 10 have been won away from home.

24 – Of those 47 wins, 24 were as skipper. Michael Vaughan has the next best record with 19 wins in this century.

1421 – Runs against Australia. Strauss has played 20 Tests against the Aussies, hence his high tally, at an average of 39.47. Hi least favourite opponents are Sri Lanka, with an average of only 22.84 in eight Tests.

2004 – Strauss's first year in the England side was his most successful, where he scored 971 runs at an average of nearly 61.His worst years were 2007 and 2011, where he averages only 28.

41- His average as skipper, as well as without the armband. The weight of leadership does not seem to affect his performance. His best score as skipper is 169, and 177 when he wasn't.

34 – Number of Tests needed to overtake Alec Stewart as England's most capped player (133). Including Stewart, there are eight men above Strauss on the list, none of whom are contemporaries. The closest current player is Kevin Pietersen, on 86.