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The opening batsman hoped there was more to come ahead of a home season which features Ashes contest against Australia.
England will head to the Riverside ground buoyed by a victory inside three days which put them 1-0 up in this two-match series and meant they’d won the opening Test of a campaign for the first time in 15 attempts.
Ravi Bopara, in only his fifth Test, and first at home, made 143 in England’s first innings 377, having been given a chance to shine in the No 3 position ahead of the more experienced Owais Shah, Ian Bell and ex-captain Michael Vaughan.
Meanwhile, man-of-the-match Graeme Swann starred with both bat and ball, making a Test-best 63 not out and then returning match figures of six for 55, which saw the off-spinner twice dismiss Shivnarine Chanderpaul, ranked the world’s number one Test batsman ahead of this clash, for nought and four.
Meanwhile England debutant fast bowler Graham Onions will now travel to his Durham base on the back of a match return of seven for 102. “We played some pretty clinical cricket,” said Strauss, who hit the winning runs on his Middlesex home ground.
“We’ve relied on KP far too much in the last 18 months,” Strauss told reporters.
“If you want to win games consistently you need performances coming from all eleven individuals. There were some different selections, fresh faces and they all came to the party.”
Character was the key to Bopara’s selection and Strauss was delighted by the way in which the 24-year-old Essex all-rounder had made runs when England really needed them in the first innings.