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Strauss buoyant ahead of first test against New Zealand

02/03/2008

England batsman Andrew Strauss has claimed his best cricketing years are still ahead of him after his recent return to form.

Strauss, who hit a century in England's final warm-up match against a New Zealand Select XI, has spoken of his confidence going into the Test series against the Kiwis.

"It's about getting into that mental zone when you get into your little bubble and you don't let people affect that. If I can get into that frame of mind, I don't see any reason why the best years of my test career shouldn't be ahead of me rather than behind me."

The batsman was dropped from the England team for the tour of Sri Lanka over Christmas after suffering an alarming drop in form for his country.

"At the end of last season I was maybe too conscious of trying to get a score because I wasn't playing well and because I wanted to get a score I went outside of my gameplan a little bit," Strauss continued.

He added that having a period of time out of the side has allowed him to "sit back and reflect and learn a lesson from it".

England are still sweating over the fitness of Paul Collingwood and Ryan Sidebottom ahead of their opening test match on Wednesday.

Both players have been suffering from hamstring problems.