The 35-year-old Strauss took the surprise decision to quitcricket after a week's soul-searching during a family break in the aftermath ofthe 0-2 Test loss to South Africa which saw England being dethroned as thenumber one Test team.
He will be replaced as Test captain by Alastair Cook, whowill also continue to lead the one-day international side
"After much thought over the last few weeks, I have decidedto step down as England Test captain and announce my retirement from all formsof cricket," Strauss said in a statement.
"It has clearly been a tough decision to make, but Ibelieve that it is both in the best interests of the England cricket team andmyself to step down at this stage," he added.
Strauss made his England debut in a one-day internationalagainst Sri Lanka in 2003 and was awarded a Test cap a year later against NewZealand, scoring a century on debut.
He played 100 Tests for England and led the side in 50matches. He scored 7037 runs in Test cricket and 4202 in 124 ODIs. Hisinternational career lasted 10 years, during which he scored 21 Test centuriesand six ODI hundreds.
But his captaincy had come under the scanner after hestruggled for runs in the series against South Africa which was also marked bythe SMS episodes involving Petersen.
Petersen has been in exile since then for sendinguncharitable text messages about Strauss and coach Andy Flower to South Africanplayers.
"There are too many people who have helped me on thisincredible journey to mention them all by name, but I would like to thank all theMiddlesex and England players I have played alongside, as well as thephenomenal coaches and support staff with whom I have been fortunate enough towork", he said.
