Strauss was made permanent captain for the West Indies tour in early 2009

England captain Andrew Strauss has heaped praise on the leadership of his stand-in Alastair Cook in Bangladesh.

Cook, handed the role while Strauss took time off, led England to wins in every tour match and scored centuries in both Tests of a 2-0 series win.

"He's done an excellent job," Strauss told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek.

"It obviously didn't affect his game, he batted exceptionally well and has further enhanced the respect he has in the group."

The praise follows similar accolades from England coach Andy Flower and former skipper Michael Vaughan.

And Strauss said Cook had staked a claim to be considered for the job on a full-time basis in the future.

"It's not easy when you haven't had a lot of experience captaining sides before to captain England with all the attention that goes with it," he added.

"None of us know how long I'm going to go on for, or what the state the side will be when I'm finished, but Alastair will certainly be one of those on the list."

606: DEBATE I really do not like the arrogance of Strauss in that he assumes he will walk straight back into the team 2002

Strauss will return to lead the side on home soil against Bangladesh in May and Pakistan in July before the Ashes, starting in November, and the World Cup in February.

And the 33-year-old said he had enjoyed having time to recharge his batteries.

"For a month or so I put in some quality time with the family, and in the last five weeks I've done some quite hard gym work," he said. "I missed the cricket, watching the guys out there I know what they went through.

"I genuinely believe the benefits of me taking time off will be seen later this summer and into the winter.

"The break has done its job. I feel refreshed and ready to go. I'm chomping at the bit now, I can't wait to play."

Strauss was impressed by the performances of some of England's new players in the Test series after both Tests were pushed into the final day by an improving young Tigers side.

"It was fantastic to see some guys in Bangladesh who hadn't been involved in the Test team have a go," he added.

"Steve Finn has done fantastically well and Tim Bresnan really enhanced his credentials out there.

"The batsmen did a really good job and went on to get big scores, which will be crucial, and the bowlers will have benefited from the conditions out there too."

Next up for England is the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, a format which Strauss does not compete in anyway, before two Tests against Bangladesh at Lord's and Old Trafford on 27 May and 4 June.

England play Australia in five one-day internationals and have three more against Bangladesh, before four Tests and five one-day matches against Pakistan, which finally ends their home campaign on 22 September.

"We have some really important cricket coming up. The Ashes is a huge series for us and the World Cup is a huge one-day series for us. We need to be peaking there," said Strauss.

"I can understand the argument that the captain should be there all the time but I still think it has been the right decision in the long-term interests of the England side.

"Come the Ashes we will need all the energy and enthusiasm we can muster. We have to look at ways of getting the most out of our players when we need them to be playing at their best.

"To win in Australia you have to do a lot of things outstandingly well and we probably haven't done enough of that over the winter.

"I have some thoughts on how we can improve over the next nine months and now is the time to start implementing them."

Meanwhile, Strauss revealed that the England squad were close to a signing their central contracts after a stand-off with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) dating back to October.

The impasse centres on the salaries of players taking rest periods, during which they may miss out of appearance fees and win bonuses.

"Us not signing contracts has gone on longer than it should have done," said Strauss. "

"There's been some upheaval at the top of the Professional Cricketers' Association - they've had to take more advice than they normally do.

"They've had to iron out a couple of points from the ECB but we are pretty happy with how things are progressing."

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