Strauss must be fully focused on ODIs with Pak: Benaud

LONDON - Former Australian cricket captain and noted commentator Richie Benaud has said that England captain Andrew Strauss would do himself a favour by concentrating solely on the well-being and winning capabilities of his team.

In an article for the News of The World (NOTW), Benaud says that Strauss must dismiss any thoughts he may be having about the forthcoming Ashes series Down Under, and concentrated on the one-day matches against Pakistan.

“He must work entirely on the clear thinking and total concentration of the players in his team and that anything but a comprehensive victory will be totally to Australia’s advantage ‘down under.’ In this one-day series, for Strauss, distraction is a dirty word. I can assure you it is easy to say something like that to a captain, but so difficult for him to believe it. Trust me, I’ve been there,” says Benaud.

“Today and on Tuesday England play T20 matches against Pakistan at Cardiff. All results are important but, much as I love T20 for its excitement and crowd appeal, in this instance it is the five one-dayers which are paramount and that should be Strauss’s priority as well,” Benaud adds.

He describes the captaincy of England as the most important job in cricket.

Benaud says: “It must be done and done well, no matter what the extraordinary happenings are which can scramble your mind. Strauss must immediately overcome all this (distractions) and in no way be distracted by events out of his control. Not easy, but it must be done! (ANI)