Although he did appear in England colours during One Day International tours in the summer of 2003, Strauss made his full Test debut in 2004, replacing the injured Michael Vaughan.

Strauss deputised for England captain Michael Vaughan throughout 2005-2006 and was officially appointed captain on 7 January 2009. This followed the most difficult period of this career, when he was intermittently dropped from both the Test and ODI side, leading to his decision to take a break from cricket in the winter of 2007.

Before 2010-2011, the last time England had beaten Australia on their own patch was in 1986-87. The tour began poorly, especially for Strauss, who was caught after only three balls and no runs scored. A second innings fightback saw England draw the Test.

This improvement carried over to the second Test, with England, under Strauss’s captaincy, dismantling the Australians and winning by an innings and 71 runs.

At Perth, in the third test, England’s dominance was halted, with a batting collapse in the second innings leading to an Australian victory. The series was finely poised at 1-1.

The fourth, and decisive, Boxing Day Test was played at the MCG, the largest cricket ground in the world by capacity. Strauss won the toss and elected to bowl; an inspired decision as Australia were bowled out for 98. In an opening stand alongside Alastair Cook, who would eventually replace him as captain, Strauss scored 69, passing 6,000 career Test runs. After scoring 513, England went on to bowl Australia out for 258, winning the series and retaining the Ashes.

Despite the fifth test essentially being a dead rubber, it marked a landmark moment for England cricket as Strauss’ team recorded 644, their highest ever score in Australia.

He was appointed as the newly-created director of cricket for the ECB in May 2015 before resigning in 2018 to spend more time with his wife, Ruth, who was undergoing treatment for lung cancer.