 Strauss averaged 55.66 with the bat as England captain
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Andrew Strauss will captain England for the forthcoming West Indies tour after Kevin Pietersen's shock resignation.
The 31-year-old Middlesex batsman captained England during five Tests in 2006, which included an impressive series win against Pakistan.
It is unclear whether Strauss will lead the one-day and Twenty20 teams as he was not part of the original squad.
Pietersen resigned over his rift with coach Peter Moores, who has been sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
During a turbulent day for English cricket, ECB managing director Hugh Morris said: "Andrew Strauss has agreed to lead the team to the Caribbean. He led the England team with distinction in 2006 when Michael Vaughan was injured."
England's tour of the Caribbean starts with a friendly against a St Kitts & Nevis Invitation XI on 25 January while the first Test of the series begins in Jamaica on 4 February.
Strauss was a leading contender to deputise for the then injured captain Michael Vaughan during the 2006 Ashes, but all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was instead appointed for a series which ended in a humiliating 5-0 whitewash.
The opener was a candidate to succeed Vaughan when the Yorkshire batsman stood down last summer but the left-hander was struggling with the bat, leaving Pietersen as the only viable choice for the job.
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The ECB's reluctance to split the captaincy after the resignation of Vaughan and, almost immediately afterwards, that of Paul Collingwood as leader of the one-day side also counted against the South Africa-born batsman.
A fine return to form during the recent series in India, which featured twin hundreds in the first Test in Chennai, cemented Strauss's place in the Test side and made him the overwhelming favourite to succeed Pietersen.
Strauss's record suggests he is a player who thrives under the pressure of captaincy.
In leading the team against Pakistan in July 2006, he hit a second-innings 128 for the highest Test score by an Englishman captaining his country for the first time and then hit another ton in the third Test to lead England to a 2-0 series win.
His batting average as captain stands at 55.66, compared to his overall Test record of 42.37.
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