Ashes 2025: Sir Andrew Strauss reveals his leadership secrets

With the Ashes series just days away, England’s cricketers are preparing to face Australia on their home turf. But the spotlight isn’t only on the players, it’s on the leadership, under pressure to deliver a long-awaited victory Down Under.

In an exclusive interview for Lead Out Loud, former England captain Sir Andrew Strauss, the last man to lead a winning Ashes tour in Australia, joined performance psychologist Mark Bawden, Founder and CEO of performance psychology firm Mindflick, which supports the delivery of Warwick Business School's Full-time MBA module LeadershipPlus, to deliver a masterclass in leadership that resonates far beyond the boundary.

Their conversation provided timely insights into how to build teams that not only perform but also thrive when the heat is on, revealing a powerful blueprint for leading under extreme pressure.

The captain's mindset

As England's current squad faces what Sir Andrew describes as the "sledgehammer" intensity of the first Test, his reflections are acutely relevant.

"The hardest thing with the Ashes is the incredible phoney war that takes place for two weeks before the series starts," he revealed.

"Every Tom, Dick and Harry is coming out with an opinion, and then suddenly you arrive at that first Test match and it just hits you like a sledgehammer."

He added that the immense build-up creates a unique challenge.

"You're like, 'wow, okay'," said the former opening batsman. "We've been talking about this for months and months. Now we've got to go and deliver and England seems to generally have been shocked by that sort of rapid increase in temperature. And often we've fluffed our lines in that first Test match."

For Sir Andrew, the modern captain's role is to build a resilient mindset both on and off the pitch.

"I think for [England captain] Ben Stokes it's about making sure he's mentally prepared himself for everything that's coming his way," said Sir Andrew. "So that when the first ball is bowled, he can just concentrate on what he needs to do on the pitch. Which is easier said than done."

Sir Andrew offered a compelling comparison between his own leadership style and the bold, high-risk 'Bazball' approach of Stokes and England coach Brendon McCullum.

While Bazball champions fearless, fast-paced cricket and decisive action, Strauss emphasised that success in leadership isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. He described his partnership with former England coach Andy Flower as “radically different” from the current regime, underscoring the idea that contrasting methods can both lead to triumph.

"The combination of Flower and myself… would be very well-planned, methodical, leaving no stone unturned, and I would be very calm, composed, non-emotional," Sir Andrew explained.

"I think, if you look at McCullum, I would say he's very people-focused, it's about creating the right sort of team environment. And Stokes would be emotional. So he would be about riding the emotion and hit them hard, like a warrior-type cricketer."

With Strauss' methodical approach working in 2010 Down Under, the upcoming Ashes is a live case study into whether an "emotional warrior" approach can also succeed under the Australian pressure.

Building teams that come "inwards, not outwards" under fire

The conversation moved from personal mindset to team dynamics and whether the world of sport and high-performing teams can be applied to business.

Dr Bawden, who teaches on the Full said: "When teams come to us, they often ask: 'Are we high performing?'

"I tell them they're asking completely the wrong question. The question you should be asking is: 'Are we a team preparing to come inwards or outwards?'

"When the pressure dials up on a team, that's when you work out whether you are a team, because you're either going to come together to solve the challenge that's ahead of you, or you're going to silo off and go apart."

He believes this inward pull, towards collaboration rather than individual retreat, is the hallmark of a unit built to last.

A phoenix from the Ashes?

As the cricket world holds its breath for the first ball to be bowled in Perth, the insights from Sir Andrew and Dr Bawden are a powerful reminder that sustainable success, whether in sport or business, is built on culture, adaptability, and psychological resilience.

And Sir Andrew's prediction for the team Down Under?

"Well, I think this England team are going to land some blows in Australia," he stated. "One thing that England teams often do is go over there full of expectation and hope, and they get smashed in the first Test... I think this team has got enough experience, it's got enough strong characters, and the way they play, they'll be resilient.

"They've got to go there with the mindset of: We're taking these guys on, we're not going to take a backwards step. We're going to meet fire with fire. We're ready for everything that's going to come our way, and we're going to take them down."

The world will watch to see if this English team, can indeed rise from the flames of past defeats to reclaim the Ashes.

The opening Test of the five-match Ashes series starts on Friday in Perth.