Ruth Strauss, the wife of Andrew Strauss who gave up his job as England director of cricket to nurse her, has died at age 46 of a rare form of lung cancer which afflicts non-smokers.
Behind, or alongside, every successful England cricket captain there has been a strong partner. Even so, it is hard to think any woman has done more for the England men's team behind the scenes, given her ability to tune into everyone's wavelength, which translated into making every new player's wife or partner feel integrated, even before her husband became Test captain in 2009.
"Anyone who has met Ruth will know how loving, caring and passionately protective she was of her family and it gives us huge comfort that she was in Australia, the land of her birth, surrounded by those who love her, in her final moments," said Andrew Strauss on announcing his wife's death, "with immense grief".
"We would like to send our heartfelt thanks to those who have helped with her treatment over the last 12 months, in particular the wonderful team at University College Hospital in London," he added. She was diagnosed with the disease 13 months ago.
Michael Vaughan, who preceded Strauss as England captain, said: "All the plaudits go to the men, but cricket is nerve-racking and 75 per cent of the time you fail. You need a rock behind the scenes, and Ruth was the rock for Andrew – and a rock for all the other players. It's a terrible loss for him and the wider cricket community."