London, Mar 27 : England skipper Andrew Strauss has said that he was right to take a break from captaincy of the national team and rest himself for the tour to Bangladesh, but insisted that he will never do it again.
Strauss was accused of “disrespecting Test cricket” by Australian legend Shane Warne for resting instead of touring Bangladesh.
“I can understand the criticism - their argument the captain should be there all the time is a valid one. But I think we must look at ways of making sure our players are performing at their best when we need them most,” The Sun quoted Strauss, as saying.
“The benefit of taking some time off now will only be seen in the summer and into next winter. We have some very important cricket coming up. Come The Ashes, we''re going to need as much energy and enthusiasm as we can muster. I still think missing Bangladesh was the right decision,” he added.
Strauss, who will return to lead the side against Bangladesh in May and Pakistan in July, said that it was not a unilateral decision.
“Myself, head coach Andy Flower and England managing director Hugh Morris spoke about it for a number of months. This break was an opportunity we saw in the schedule. I don’t think I’ll need another one,” he added.
In his absence, Alastair Cook led England to whitewash victories in both the one-day and Test series and Strauss said: “It was fantastic to see some guys in Bangladesh who hadn''t been involved in the Test team have a go.”
“Cookie did things his way and did an excellent job, but I think the lads understand the principles we''re putting in place,” he added.
© ANI
