Strauss may skip Bangladesh tour

After one of the busiest international summer on record, England's schedule shows no signs of slowing down with a tour to South Africa followed by the Bangladesh trip and another World Twenty20 in the West Indies all before the domestic programme gets under way.

"I can't guarantee anything, I don't know what will happen in the next few months. We only select one tour at a time," he told BBC Radio Five's Sportsweek programme. "The South Africa tour is a massive one and then we've got Bangladesh in February and March."

He added: "When we select that we'll sit down and see where we are as a side with injuries, niggles and all that stuff. We'll sit down and decide the best course of action.

"We have a busy summer of cricket before the Ashes in Australia so there's a lot of cricket ahead. The key is to make sure the players are fresh but at the same time you don't want to be tinkering with the side too much.

"The Bangladesh tour is quite a useful one in our development in terms of playing on sub-continental wickets...I'm not going to say I am definitely on it at this stage and I'm not going to say I'm definitely not on it, we'll just need to see where we are as a side."

Should he not be part of the touring side, Alastair Cook would appear to be next in line to lead the team but Kevin Pietersen, the man whose acrimonious departure from the captaincy led to Strauss' appointment, still has his champions.

While it would seem unlikely for the South Africa-born batsman to make a return to the job so soon after his public spat with former coach Peter Moores, Strauss believes he may yet captain his adopted country again.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out. He's got some attributes that make him a very good captain," said the Middlesex opener.

"He's very confident in his own ability, he's got strong views on the game and he's got the ability to lead by example. I wouldn't rule it out completely."