LONDON: Andrew Strauss wants England to learn from rugby union giants New Zealand as he seeks to build a united cricket side capable of beating the world's best teams.
The All Blacks, the reigning world champions, have long been the pre-eminent team in their sport and Strauss believes it is New Zealand's "unbelievable pride" which has helped them achieve so much success.
Strauss has faced a testing first week in his new role as England's director of cricket, sacking coach Peter Moores and then, far more controversially, insisting Kevin Pietersen's ongoing exile from the international set-up would continue for at least this home season.
A former England captain, Strauss -- in comments reported by several British newspapers on Sunday -- said a "philosophy" of pride was key to a team doing well.
Strauss said he was keen to learn from other sports and cited the examples of the All Blacks and Manchester United under manager Alex Ferguson as well-run teams.
"One that stands out is the All Blacks," Strauss said.
"There are a number of other examples of strong sporting cultures -- Manchester United under Alex Ferguson, everyone knew what that stood for, what was expected, what was allowable and what wasn't allowable.
"I think part of my job is to look at other sports and work out what we can take from them, in terms of bringing together a four-year plan, how they develop their young sports people"
Strauss's latest comments came at the end of a week in which it was reported that England captain Alastair Cook would have quit international cricket had Pietersen been allowed back into the side, while other players would have considered their futures, such was the angst he is said to have caused in the dressing room.
- Whole culture -
For his part, Strauss said there was a "massive trust issue" between the England and Wales Cricket Board and Pietersen, England's all-time leading run-scorer across all formats.
As captain, Strauss was a big believer in the importance of the 'team ethic' and it's one he intends to promote in his new role.
"That sort of philosophy is absolutely spot on. England players need to be unbelievably proud to be putting on that shirt," he said. "There's got to be a whole culture that's associated with that.
"That drives everything, and it has to be policed and bought into by the players themselves -- that's the only way that the culture really works properly."
Meanwhile, following England's humiliating first-round exit from the World Cup, where they failed to beat a single major nation, Strauss said it was time to "think radically" regarding limited overs cricket.
This could mean a revamp of the fixture schedule and abandoning early season home Tests in order to let leading players take part in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League.
"In an ideal situation, our players won't be missing any cricket - but will still have the opportunity to play in the IPL," said Strauss.
"We've got to look at the international calendar, and work out ways and times when our players are available to play at some of these tournaments."
One reason cited for declining participation figures in men's and schoolboy cricket in Britain is the lack of live coverage of major England matches on terrestrial television, with the ECB having signed lucrative deals with satellite broadcaster Sky in the decade since the 2005 Ashes.
But new ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said: "I don't think all our participation concerns are addressed by terrestrial television."
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