Strauss is eager to meet challenge of remaining at the summit

By the time Strauss was a teenager, England had endured a decade of mediocrity through the 1980s in which they won only 20 of 104 Tests. But if his own world-beating team beat India again at The Oval in the fourth and final match of the npower series starting today, they will have equalled that total of 20 victories in just 30 attempts since coach Andy Flower took over on a permanent basis.

Strauss accepts England face a significant challenge to retain their No 1 status in the International Cricket Council rankings, achieved in last weekend’s series-clinching success at Edgbaston. But he is confident, even if the current team encounter major difficulties on their travels this winter or next or at home to South Africa in between, the correct structure is in place to ensure a continued presence at the right end of the ICC table.

“The days of English cricket being kind of a laughing stock have gone – for good, we hope – for all sorts of reasons,” he said. “It’s not just our play on the park; the whole structure and set-up has improved dramatically.

“The challenge for us all is to make sure that continues.”

The 1990s were not significantly more prosperous than the 80s, albeit in eras dominated first by a great West Indies side and then one from Australia.

Strauss cites the main problem of previous decades as a failure to maximise potential: “There was a feeling that we weren’t getting the best out of our players – because we’ve always had very good players in England – there’s no doubt about that. Now is very much a time to keep that improvement going. It’s not a time to take the foot off the gas and be satisfied. We’re going to be judged by higher standards now as a result of getting to No 1, and it’s going to be harder to stay there.”

England hope Jimmy Anderson will have no adverse reaction to his thigh injury this morning after bowling in the nets yesterday.