Strauss ready to lead charge of the young brigade

London, June 9 (UNI) A stand-in skipper for another stand-in, Andrew Strauss is undaunted by the idea of leading a greenhorn brigade in the NatWest Series with the touring Sri Lankans and feels it's a quite important job ahead of next year's World Cup.

Strauss has been named captain of a 15-member England squad in absence of Andrew Flintoff, who is battling an ankle problem.

Strauss, who led England in two ODIs during the tour of India, will have five uncapped players in the ranks.

Among the rookies, Jamie Dalrymple and Ed Joyce are recent graduates from the National Academy at Loughborough, while the trio of Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Glen Chapple (Lancashire) and Alex Loudon (Warwickshire) were impressive in the county matches.

''The selectors have given a few guys the chance to show what they can do before the World Cup - I firmly believe it is a great opportunity for those guys to stake a claim for a place.

''We know there are some very good players in county cricket and some of them have been given the chance to show what they can do - they will be excited themselves and everyone in the side is excited to see what they can do,'' Strauss told the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

He also played down the Murali factor and said, ''Muttiah Muralitharan is obviously a genius in either form of the game - but I believe that batsmen win you the game in one-day cricket and bowlers win you Test matches.

''Sri Lanka have experienced batsmen like Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene. We need to get their big players out cheaply and if we do so we have a great chance to win the series,'' he explained.

Making no bones of the fact that the side will be missing Flintoff, Strauss said it's time for others to make their mark in absence of the talismanic allrounder.

''Andrew Flintoff has shown over recent years that he has been one of the best players in one-day cricket and he will be sorely missed.

''In the past we have relied too much on him to score the runs and take the wickets so it is up to other players to stand up and be counted,'' Strauss exhorted.

On leading England, Strauss said he was lucky but grounds realities are not so rosy.

''You always dream of those things when you are growing up but there is a big difference between the fairy tail and the reality.

''At the moment it is great to be England captain but I am very much aware of the circumstances, that I am filling in for Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff but I am very excited about - it should be an exciting three weeks.'' UNI XC AY HS1235