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Sir Andrew Strauss, chairman of the
England Cricket Board, has delivered his annual report. He began by congratulating the England captain, Ollie Pope, on the team’s successful defence of the Ashes in Australia. The series finished level at 2-2 with the
Sydney Test drawn. The outcome of each match was still in doubt at tea on the fifth day. The reversion to five-day Test cricket, which coincided with Colin Graves’s departure as chairman of the International Cricket Council, was deemed a success among the four countries still committed to playing Test cricket on a regular basis.
Strauss expressed his gratitude to Pope and his red-ball coaching staff led by Richard Dawson, the former England off-spinner and Gloucestershire coach. He also highlighted the success of the one-day side, now overseen by Eoin Morgan, in the inaugural six-nation European Cup. England won the grand slam but he acknowledged there had been one or two well-publicised blips along the way and he thanked the minister for culture, media and sport, Edward Smith, for his assistance.