2) Andrew Strauss was born in South Africa but relocated to England at the age of six, where Strauss started playing serious cricket and went on to playfor the country
3) Andrew Strauss is commonly known as Muppet, due to his resemblance with the muppet, a famous cartoon character. Other nicknames include Levi, Mareman, The Captain and Straussy
4) An average student with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from Durham University, Strauss started playing cricket for the university team and soon made it to Middlesex second XI. The natural progression was to the Middlesex team, for which he started playing in 1998. By 2000, Strauss had become their opening batsman and by 2002, their full-time captain
5) Before Fame, Andrew Strauss was just the fourth batsman to score 100 at Lord's Cricket Ground on his debut
6) During his early career, Strauss spent several years in the cities of Sydney and Adelaide in Australia, and briefly played first-grade cricket alongside Australian bowler Brett Lee
7) Two back to back fruitful county seasons 1,133 and 1,401 First-class runs in 2002 and 2003 respectively saw him picked for the England ODI side to tour Bangladesh
8) Andrew Strauss made his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s in May 2004 and turned it into a memorable one as Strauss became only the fourth player and the first Middlesex captain to score a century at Lord’s in his maiden outing. Strauss missed the second innings hundred by a whisker, as he was run out on 83. Had Andrew completed his hundred, he could have become the first Englishman to score two hundreds on Test debut. Later, Andrew scored his maiden ODI hundred as well on the same ground against West Indies
9) Andrew Strauss has written several books on his professional career, Coming Into Play: My Life in Test Cricket (2006), Testing Times: In Pursuit of the Ashes 2010, with Scyld Berry, Winning the Ashes Down Under: The Captains Story (2011), and an autobiography, Driving Ambition, in 2014
10) Andrew Strauss was a part of the English team that won the historic Ashes England’s first in 18 years in 2005. His 106 in the third Test at Old Trafford and 129 in the fifth Test at the Oval ensured that England drew the matches and regain the urn
11) Andrew Strauss has the rare distinction of having his final Test match and his 100th Test coinciding. Strauss also achieved yet another rare feat when he became one of the players to play his debut and final Test at Lords. Strauss scored 20 & 1 in each inning as the visiting South Africans clinched a 51 run win. The match, however, was clouded by a text messaging scandal by Kevin Pietersen
12) Andrew Strauss managed to keep his place for the India tour and immediately rewarded the selectors by making 123 in the first innings of the first Test match with the rest of the batting lagging behind. Andrew followed it up by holding the batting order together after a collapse that saw England 43–3 and shared a 200 run partnership with Paul Collingwood in which Strauss and Collingwood both made 108. He became just the 10th Englishman to make two hundreds in the same Test match, with Marcus Trescothick being the last in 2004
13) England reached the top of the ICC Test rankings in the 2008/09 season for the first time in 31 years. This also included an impressive win in the 2009 edition of the Ashes series under the captaincy of Andrew Strauss
14) In January 2009, Strauss was officially appointed as England’s new Test captain, when Strauss succeeded Kevin Pietersen. In the 50 Tests where he led his team, England won 24, lost 11 and drew 15. Under his captaincy, England won the Ashes twice once each home and away. Another highlight of his captaincy was that England attained No. 1 spot in ICC Test rankings, for the first time in 31 years, during his tenure in the year 2011
15) Andrew Strauss is considered as the most successful England captain of his era. Strauss led the Brits into a golden age during his incumbency as captain. His most notable achievement came during the 2009 Ashes tour when he led his side to victory against a mighty Australian side. He captained England for the final 5 years of his career
16) Andrew Strauss married Ruth McDonald in 2003 and he has two sons, Luca and Sam. He grew up in England, with his family moving there when he was six
17) In 2012 he announced his retirement from the sport, with Alastair Cook taking over captaining duties
18) Andrew Strauss was named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2005 on the back of his fantastic performance. Later, he was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire, which was subsequently upgraded when was promoted as the Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2011. The same year, his alma mater, Durham University, conferred the honorary doctorate of DCL upon him
19) Andrew Strauss became the Director of Cricket for England cricket team in 2015, soon before the sacking of Peter Moores. His first assignment was to lead England out of a horrific World Cup campaign.
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