England captain Andrew Strauss has admitted he may sit out the Bangladesh tour in February next year.

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.

England appear likely to use the lower-profile February tour as a chance to rest some of their key players and although Strauss fell short of confirming he would not be in the squad, he conceded it was a possibility.

"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. 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.

Stay updated with all the on-field and off-field action from the world of cricket

"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.

Strauss wants to stay at the peak of his powers in the run up to the Ashes defence next winter.

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.

Click here to buy Airtel CLT20 tickets

"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."

"The timing (of Pietersen's appointment) wasn't ideal because he and Peter Moores didn't really see eye to eye and I think that is fundamental to being a successful coach or captain."

Reflecting on the period of turbulence which led to his installation as England captain, Strauss said: "It seems like a long time ago but it was a pretty unpleasant time. I don't think anyone liked the atmosphere in the team at that stage. It came to a head in a dramatic fashion and I suppose for a while English cricket was in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

"You knew there was a frosty relationship between the two of them and it just didn't feel quite right."