Strauss' "new" technique

For someone who has spent most of the last 18 months "working on his game" and trying to "iron out some flaws", the secrets behind Andrew Strauss' apparent return to form seem to be fairly straightforward.

They are both designed to combat his tendency to flail outside the off stump - play too far away from his body, thus losing control of his shots and resulting in the ball being airborne through gully and point far too often. Nothing revolutionary, but:

1) He has changed his guard to middle, so that his body is much closer to the ball. He is therefore much better balanced when playing the ball outside his off stump, and the bat stays much more under control.

2) More decisive footwork, particularly in coming forward - this should assist him in driving straighter and opening up more scoring areas.

3) Leaving more balls - he is picking the balls he plays outside the off stump much more judiciously, and leaving plenty which are hittable but risky.

As Alistair Cook starts to open up a bit, I think we may be seeing a return to the Andrew Strauss who first broke into the team on such a purple run of form - a calm, thinking player who never gave his wicket away.