England team director Andrew Strauss will not return to the Ashes after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
Strauss departed the tour after Joe Root’s team went 2-0 down in Adelaide, with his final act being to lift the curfews imposed over Jonny Bairstow’s meeting of heads with Australia opener Cameron Bancroft in a bar.
The 40-year-old was scheduled to be back for the final two Tests of the five-match series but is to remain in the UK due to his Australian wife Ruth’s ill health. The couple have two sons — Sam, 12, and Luca, nine.
England director Andrew Strauss left Australia after wife Ruth (R) was diagnosed with cancer
Strauss pictured alongside his Australian wife Ruth in 2011 after being awarded an OBE
An ECB spokesman said: ‘Andrew Strauss will not return to the Ashes this winter. His wife Ruth is going through a series of medical tests before Christmas.
‘His family need Andrew’s full support at this time.’
Strauss met Ruth, an actress, in Sydney’s Bourbon and Beefsteak bar while playing grade cricket in 1998-99.
They married in 2003 and in 2009, after Strauss captained England to Ashes victory, he credited his wife with keeping him grounded as he struggled to switch off from heightening pressure on the second evening of the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley in August.
Strauss with his wife Ruth and sons Sam (L) and Luca (C) after winning the Ashes in 2009
Strauss met Ruth in Sydney and they married in 2003 – and he has often outlined her influence
Australia were about to square the series and, for a time, not even the presence of Ruth and his sons could cheer Strauss up.
‘Eventually she said that some people had been blown up in Afghanistan — they were the ones who had had a bad day,’ Strauss wrote in his book, Testing Times. ‘She was right.’
He also spoke of her influence in an interview with Sportsmail that year.
‘The support network you have is vital,’ Strauss said. ‘Ruth’s been amazingly supportive and the kids have provided a great distraction.
The couple pictured alongside Manchester United icon Sir Bobby Charlton at Wimbledon 2014
‘I got irritated at some of the off-field stuff we had to do and felt I wasn’t able to give as much as I’d like to the family.
‘Since then I’ve always tried to retain a sense of perspective about what’s important, and Ruth and the kids have certainly helped me do that.
‘The Headingley example was just a comment from her that hit home and it was a powerful one.
‘But I also remember after the Lord’s Test we had a week off and traipsed around Legoland with the kids, which took me away from things and just gave me a lot of energy.’
Strauss departed this tour after Joe Root’s team went 2-0 down against Austraila in Adelaide