Strauss ready for action

Andrew Strauss says he is raring to go after missing the tour to Bangladesh and refused to rule out resting other players this summer.

The England captain handed over the reigns to Alistair Cook for the two-Test tour to Bangladesh as he wanted to recharge the batteries ahead of a packed English summer and the Ashes tour next winter.
In his absence, England won the series 2-0 and also won every other international match of the tour in the two shortened versions of the game.
Strauss was hammered in the press for pulling out of the trip with many ex-England captains clearly feeling that the skipper should be with his troops through thick and thin.
But the Middlesex man is happy with his decision and believes that with two further Tests against Bangladesh this summer followed by four against Pakistan, England may opt to rest more key players over the next six months.
"We're going to have to see to a certain extent how the players are doing but if there's a chance to do that we will," he said.
"We want the team in as good a frame of mind as possible, but what games they miss can only be decided at the time and it depends on where we are in series and that kind of stuff.
"I can understand the argument that as England captain you should be there all the time, but we've got to look at ways of making the most of the players we've got and get the best out of them at the same time.
"We've got a huge Ashes series and World Cup, so we need to be peaking then and we have to look at how we do that."
The 33-year-old is now back in training with his Middlesex colleagues and is looking forward to getting back into battle for his country with the Ashes never far from his mind.
"I'm champing at the bit now and can't wait to get out there and play," he added. "The rest has done its job and I feel raring to go. I'm going into the season refreshed and, come the Ashes in the winter, we're going to need as much energy and enthusiasm as we can muster.
"It has been the right decision as far as the long-term interest of the England team is concerned."