Born to serve

From the moment that Andrew Strauss called time on his England career, his eventual accession to the higher echelons of the ECB has seemed inevitable. His new role as England's director of cricket is one that he is perfectly equipped to undertake, even if the recognition that it has all come rather quickly does him few favours.

Strauss' appointment as England's new director of cricket comes at only 38, and less than three years after his retirement. His many admirable qualities provide powerful justification for the ECB's desire to fast-track him into such an important role, but English cricket is in a febrile state and, initially at least, Strauss will not be immune to the consequences.

Some critics already fret that Strauss may remain too close to many England players for a wholly objective viewpoint or to maintain the distance from the dressing room that his role now demands. It is a concern to which he himself gave serious consideration. The warning is particularly apt in his relationship with Alastair Cook, a former team-mate with whom he shared one of England's most productive opening partnerships in Test history and a captain upon whom he must presumably now sit in judgment.

Such difficulties, Cook apart, perhaps, can be overstated. Far better a director of cricket who theoretically could become too close than one - his predecessor Paul Downton perhaps being a case in point - who is so removed from the modern game that his strategy is outmoded as a result.

Nobody will be able to complain that Strauss is out of touch. In his need to create the conditions for England to build successful international teams, his knowledge of the modern game is a sizeable advantage. His belief that players must also be given the space to show personal responsibility will also help ensure that his distance from his former team-mates is appropriate.

It has not taken him long to make an impact - an impression encouraged by the timing of the ECB email chain confirming the latest ructions in English cricket. At 1427 on Saturday, the ECB announced his appointment. Forty minutes later, they announced that Peter Moores had been sacked as coach following "private conversations" between Strauss and the new chief executive of the ECB, Tom Harrison. Why, in his playing days, it could take him longer to get off the mark.

If his decision to make a fresh start seems hard on Moores, who is a good man, and who has sought hard to respond to criticism by softening his intense coaching style, the decision is understandable. Strauss suspects the teacher-pupil relationship that remains at the heart of Moores' coaching as being inappropriate for international cricket. The triple espresso - as Moores was memorably described in Kevin Pietersen's autobiography - has been ousted by the old smoothie.

Less than a fortnight before the start of England's international summer, and in an Ashes summer to boot, is hardly the ideal time to be sacking a coach, although as England seem to play permanently these days, awaiting a gap in the calendar would have been tantamount to giving Moores a job for life. Neither is it certain that Jason Gillespie, the media favourite at least, would take the role; no secret negotiations have taken place. Strauss has a lot to achieve in a short time.

His appointment, nevertheless, now gives England the chance to put 18 months of turmoil behind them and to encourage an atmosphere of trust and common purpose, not just within the team environment but within the country at large. His record as a captain who led England to two Ashes wins and to the top of the Test rankings, his upstanding character, collegiate and contemplative approach, and natural desire to work for the common good rather than individual aggrandisement all suggest he is the right man for the job. Ever the insider, he will settle more comfortably into this role than he did the commentary box, where most former England captains congregate.

There are Noises Off all the same, as if to stress the healing process that now faces him. The suspicious, occasionally downright hostile, response from some cricket-loving zealots on social media to news that his appointment was imminent emphasises that England's cricket public remains more riven than the team. Strauss, like Downton, is regarded as an impediment to the resumption of Pietersen's England career. That is still not easily forgiven.

Pietersen's attempt to force his way back into England's Ashes plans continues against Leicestershire at the Kia Oval on Sunday, but the appointment of Strauss, rather than other contenders such as Michael Vaughan, who withdrew his interest after he found the job specification not to his tastes, or Alec Stewart, who has been a supportive figure towards Pietersen at Surrey, suggests that his prospects are once again minimal.

Much will be made of Strauss' gaff on Sky TV when his description of Pietersen as a "c***" was picked up by a stray microphone. More illuminating as to Strauss' priorities is this comment in his autobiography. "Focusing so much on personality and celebrity can have the unfortunate effect of encouraging players to separate themselves from their team-mates in order to gain attention, and that can be very difficult and divisive in a team sport." He will treat any outcry with politely-concealed contempt.

But the issues go deeper than Pietersen. It is fortunate that the ECB stepped back from announcing his appointment last Friday, about the time that David Cameron was celebrating a surprise majority in the general election and promising to govern as a One-Nation Conservative. Strauss has always laughed off suggestions that he might have been destined, post retirement, for a career as a Tory MP, but the coincidence of two such announcements on the same day would have been striking.

English cricket does not welcome the notion, but the furore of the last 18 months - and in particular the remark by Giles Clarke, the outgoing chairman of the ECB, that England's captain, Cook, came from the right stock - has brought about the perception that English cricket is as elitist as at any time in the modern era.

That narrative must be challenged. The game has slipped somewhat out of fashion and, at a time when it needs to broaden its appeal, particularly in building the interest of a new generation of spectators in the NatWest Blast T20 competition, the dangers of English cricket being seen as a sport wedded to privilege should be real and apparent.

Strauss' appointment does nothing to change that perception. His educational background - prep school, expensive boarding school - and the fact he is from wealthy Home Counties stock - has already encouraged some to dismiss his appointment as just another Job For The Boys. The history of English cricket is piled deep with them. Neither was he exactly unknown to Harrison or the head hunting firm that drew up the shortlist.

But if English cricket has a predisposiiton to those it knows, Strauss does not deserve to be caricatured. "I take a look at the group of individuals around me," he wrote in his autobiography as England sat on the outfield, celebrating an Ashes series victory. "There are people from all walks of life. Some were born abroad, in faraway climes. Others had hardly set foot outside the UK until cricket came a-calling. Northerners and southerners, private schools and comprehensives, young and old…"

Far from being an example of privilege, Strauss can be an individual around whom English cricket, in the broadest sense, can unite. He will seek to rid English cricket of personal agendas - a priority also high on the list of Harrison and his new chairman Colin Graves; in his desire to build successful England teams, he will agitate for county cricket to put quality above quantity; and his recognition of the limitations as well as the potential of his new role will ensure England's new coach has room to breath. He should start by vowing never to wear a tracksuit.

Backed up by an impressive Test record, blessed with an ability to be both tough and conciliatory, concerned above all with the general good, Strauss has all the credentials to serve England cricket well. The choice by Harrison is a good one.

The fallout from England's Ashes whitewash in Australia and the resulting sacking of Pietersen is coming to an end. Three coaches - Andy Flower, Ashley Giles and Peter Moores have all departed, as has an MD of England cricket in Downton. An ECB chief executive and chairman have moved on. Presumably the post of national selector, held by James Whitaker, will go next week. It is time for a fresh beginning.