Andrew Strauss describes 'long five months' since death of wife Ruth

Former England director of cricket Andrew Strauss says it has been a "long five months" since his wife Ruth died from a rare and incurable lung cancer in December.

She had received her diagnosis a year earlier, with Strauss returning from the Ashes tour of Australia to be with her and their two boys, Sam, 13, and Luca, 10.

Strauss, 42, then announced in October 2018 he was stepping down from his role with the England and Wales Cricket Board after three and a half years, in order to support his wife.

Ruth, to whom he was married for 15 years, died two months later, aged 46.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast on Wednesday, Strauss acknowledged that his wife's death has changed his perspective on life.

He said: "My outlook on life is completely different now. In the cricket world, with a lot of little issues that people are getting in a tizz around, I'm just like: Don't worry about it.

"You know really, it's funny because it probably would have helped my cricket career if I didn't care as much. You just go out and play with a bit more freedom."

Strauss initially took a break from his role with the ECB in May in order to spend more time with Ruth.

He paid tribute to the way she focused on helping her family prepare for life without her.

"Ruth was going to die at some point, so her focus was preparing me and the kids for life after her," he said.

"In order to do that, she had to accept something that she really didn't want to accept - that she was on the way out. That takes an enormous amount of strength and courage.

"Ruth thought, 'OK, even though I'm not going to be around, they're still going to live a long and happy life'."

As part of that process, the couple visited a counsellor, who gave them valuable advice and support in preparing for her death.

Strauss said: "I remember the first time we went and saw a child grief and loss counsellor and how relieved we both felt when the counsellor said, 'You know what, the kids will probably be OK if you do this, this and this'.

"It was a huge weight off Ruth's shoulders in particular. I think when her time did come, she felt like we were set up - but only on the back of having that really good support.

"But you know, hats off to them [the boys] - they're very strong, very resilient and determined to go out and live their life as fully as they possibly can."