Sir Ian Botham has urged England skipper Andrew Strauss to be more aggressive as captain going into the Test series against South Africa.

Interviewed in the December issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine Sir Ian says: “What he has done best (Strauss) is get better with the bat.

He will learn to be a better captain, too, and I just hope he doesn’t get too negative. England were too defensive in the West Indies earlier in the year and we were only slightly better against Australia.

Strauss needs to have confidence in his players to be aggressive. He can’t be bold if the rest of the team don’t play. I don’t think he is absolutely confident that he can set them challenges.”

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Asked if England can build on its Ashes win to become the best team in the world, Botham says: “Never mind about getting to No.1, we’re No.5 at the moment.

Let’s move up a few places first. They are nowhere near being the best Test side in the world at present. In South Africa, if England have the right bowlers and they are all fit, and the batsmen turn up, and the top five and six all fire, then we have a chance. Our batsmen don’t make enough runs,” he adds.

England snatched the urn back from the Aussies earlier this year after losing being whitewashed 5-0 Down Under two years back.

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