By John Mehaffey
London - New Zealand was not the first-choice venue for Andrew Strauss to relaunch his England career after he was banished to the wilderness two years ago.
Strauss, omitted from the side to tour Sri Lanka in 2007, had planned to play in South Africa, the land of his birth 32 years ago.
Instead he ended up in the New Zealand North Island town of Hamilton and was playing for Northern Districts without much success when he got a break which illustrated the tissue-thin divide between success and failure in the life of an elite sportsman.
In his final innings for Northern Districts, Strauss lobbed the second ball to mid-on, "the easiest catch I have ever seen in my life".
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To Strauss's astonishment the catch went down. His equally dumbfounded batting partner was run out while he watched in disbelief from the middle of the pitch.
Strauss went on to make a hundred which was to lead to his recall to the England team who were touring New Zealand early last year.
"It was in a losing cause, admittedly, but this innings set me on the road to recovery and redemption," he recorded in his new book "Testing Times."
Further trials were to come. New Zealand unexpectedly won the first test and, although England bounced back by winning the second, Strauss's personal form was still unconvincing.
Before the second innings of the third test, Strauss had not scored a century for 15 tests. For the first time in his life he had trouble sleeping, knowing another failure could mean the end of a test career which had begun with a century against New Zealand at Lord's.
Strauss was distraught after making a duck in the first innings before showing his character and determination with 177 in a winning cause in the second which secured his place.
The subsequent 18 months have been a period of almost uninterrupted success for Strauss.
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