Strauss: My amazing week

During what he says has been a " couple of pretty manic days", Strauss has barely had time to contemplate the events of his momentous Test debut.

"Just about everyone I know has been in touch - current and former teammates, school friends, university friends, family," he said. "I've had about 150 text messages, lots of phone messages and lots of letters. It's been great to see so many people following my career."

Strauss is aware of the part he has played in Hussain's decision to retire from cricket, who stressed yesterday that he didn't want to stand in the way of a number of good young players on the fringes of the England team.

"If I hadn't done so well at Lord's and he hadn't done so well, maybe he wouldn't have considered retiring, but by all accounts he has been thinking of it for a while," the left-hander said.

"I think he has earned the right to make that decision through the number of games he has played for England. To finish your career by scoring a hundred in a great England victory is fantastic. Not many people have gone out on a high like that."

Strauss is aware that he will have to deal with increased expectations when he walks out to bat, most probably with Marcus Trescothick, in the Second Test against New Zealand at Headingley next week. "Not many people really expect someone on debut to do what I've done," he admitted. "It will be hard to live up to that. But all I can control is how I prepare for games and to ensure I get the mental side of my game right. I've got to give myself every chance of doing well.

"I'm realistic enough to know there are going to be some low scores over the course of the season but at the same time I can take confidence from what happened at Lord's.

"Graham Thorpe was the last English player to get a hundred on debut and he said to me, 'things will change for you but stay with what you know and what got you there in the first place'."

Strauss said he did not expect to force Michael Vaughan into the middle order. He said: "I'm the most junior member of the team and will bat wherever they want" - but admitted: "I'm an opening batsman and I prefer to open.

"I've batted number three a couple of times for Middlesex, but hardly ever."

Unlike some raw and hopeful selections in the last five years, Strauss knows his game and is close to the finished article. Mature enough to be appointed captain of Middlesex at the age of 24, he is testament to the grooming qualities of the much-maligned county game.

Like Trescothick, who made his Test debut after seven years of playing county cricket, and Vaughan, who did not establish himself as a Test regular until he was 27, Strauss could be considered something of a late starter.

Does he see himself as a standard bearer for county cricket?

"The years I've played county cricket have done me an enormous amount of good. A lot of inner confidence comes from scoring runs over a number of years," he replied.

"There are some very good players in county cricket who test your capabilities on a regular basis. It shows you don't have to have been through the England set-up all of your life.

"I'm not the finished article. There are some improvements I need to make to my game but I know what I need to do at the moment to score runs."

Strauss believes he has benefited from being eased into the England setup through spending the winter with the one-day squad.

"That made a massive difference coming into the Test match," he said. "I got to know the boys and experienced the big crowds and the atmosphere in the West Indies."

It will be back to reality for Strauss tomorrow when he leads Middlesex in their Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy tie against Glamorgan at Lord's.

"To a certain extent it will be strange but I know my team-mates at Middlesex won't let me bask in my glory. They will bring me straight back down to earth."