Stepping down as England captain 'not something I've considered' says defiant Andrew Strauss

Strauss' test average has slumped to 28.52 since his last century - against Australia in 2010 (Reuters)

Andrew Strauss has no intention of relinquishing the England captaincy and believes an upturn in fortunes - for both him and the side - is just around the corner.

Four consecutive Test defeats, as well as a lengthy personal struggle for big scores, have left Strauss' position open to debate for the first time in his three-year reign.

A fifth defeat on the bounce in tomorrow's second Test against Sri Lanka would see the debate linger into the English summer, but Strauss is confident his side have enough quality to end their losing sequence.

Asked today if he would consider stepping down if the tourists come undone at the P.Sara Stadium, Strauss said: "That's not something I've considered.

"Going into this game it's really not something on my mind. People are always entitled to their opinions but I don't necessarily share them.

"Sometimes you'll go through patches where things don't work out your way, both individually and collectively. If you retain faith it will turn round, especially if you have players of real quality, which I know we do have.

"I'm very confident we've got the ability and skill to do that and that's going to be our challenge over the next five days.

"The pressure is no more than normal."

Strauss, a two-time Ashes winning skipper, is no stranger to pressure and famously rescued his Test career from what appeared to be the point of no return with a gutsy 177 against New Zealand in 2008.

A similar effort at the top of the order this week would be just as important and Strauss is hopeful of calling on the same powers of concentration that steered him through last time.

"One of the advantages of experience is that you've always got something to fall back on and I'll be trying to do that this week," he said.

"It's never rocket science. Watching the ball is always a good starting point and we all tend to over-complicate things too often, so it's a case of being as simple as possible, taking your time to get in and making sure you convert it into a big score."

PA