I AM feeling a bit green this morning. It’s nothing to do with too many margaritas with Tony Cozier, just jealousy at the way Andrew Strauss keeps pumping out hundreds. I’m almost as green as the vivid , near luminescent patches on the outer regions of the outfield where the groundstaff have attempted to camouflage the lack of grass.The other area where the grass is conspicuous by its absence is the pitch itself.

The scalping of the 22 yards in the middle of the Queen’s Park Oval has given Strauss and England a golden opportunity. Joey Carew, the former West Indies opening batsman and a senior figure at Queen’s Park, who according to Cozier has spent more time at the Oval than at home in his 71 years, is reportedly aghast that somebody in the West Indies camp persuaded the groundsman to take so much grass from the surface, which will offer progressively more turn. More good news for Strauss.

The disappointment for England’s captain yesterday was that he was unable to add substantially to his overnight 139, a failing of sorts. Four times now in his career he has been not out overnight with a century and four times he has been out quickly the next morning, adding four, six, four and now three after yesterday’s dismissal.

By nature I am suspicious of the many statistics that emanate from this game but some do tell a valid story and Strauss is now fourth in a list of Test batsmen who have converted fifties into hundreds (the qualification being a minimum of 10 Test centuries).

With 14 half-centuries and 17 tons to his name his conversion rate is 54.83%. The three above him are Sir Don Bradman with 13 and 29 (69.04%), George Headley five and 10 (66.66%) and, surprisingly, Ashwell Prince, eight and 10 (55.55%). By comparison Kevin Pietersen is at 51.72% and Michael Vaughan 50% . Way down the list comes D I Gower, with 39 fifties and only 18 hundreds.

Strauss is playing his 60th Test, whereas I dragged my career out for 118. I wonder how Strauss would have coped with Holding, Roberts, Marshall and Garner? His figures point to powers of concentration and a determination to make the most of his opportunities. England’s lack of hundreds was highlighted last summer and it was part of his manifesto as captain that they sort it out. The message is getting through.

Importantly, it seems that he has learnt the lessons that needed to be grasped during his run of poor form that led to his “resting” from the Sri Lanka tour in the autumn of 2007 and saw him drinking in the Last Chance Saloon in Napier last March. The fact that he finished with 177 meant his career was back on track. What had he changed for the better? His judgment of how to play outside his off stump.

He had been getting out, as many left-handers can, by edging balls just outside his comfort zone. As soon as he remembered that he could leave those alone and still make a pile of runs when bowlers returned to a straighter line, his batting rhythm returned. Even if last summer was not his most productive, at least the method that works for him best was back in place. Against a West Indies attack that, but for the pace of Fidel Edwards and the guile of Sulieman Benn, is unchallenging, he has made hay. He won’t have to answer any questions about the captaincy adversely affecting his batting.

His runscoring has bolstered his position as captain. Indeed, with such rich form he might even subdue his critics who worry about his role in the one-day team he also has to skipper. As captain one wants not only to be able to lead by example but for that example to lead to victories. I found that there was a correlation between my confidence as a batsman and my confidence as a decision-maker. If the first was strong, my capacity to act on the right instinct was greater.

It is a shame Strauss did not feel strong enough to have declared earlier rather than opting for the too-ample cushion of a 500 lead in Antigua, otherwise he could be chasing a series win now and not just a draw.

The forecast from those that know the Queen’s Park Oval well is that the ball will soon turn prodigiously. The game still needs to be managed properly and from the captain’s point of view it will be incumbent upon him to pull all the right strings.

If he does not, doubts will still remain over his skill as a captain but one should not forget that captaincy, like all aspects of the game, has to be learnt and constantly honed.