Ruth Strauss, the Ballarat-raised wife of former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss, has died in Australia aged 46 after a battle with lung cancer.
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"It is with great sadness and immense grief that we have to announce that Ruth passed away today as a result of her rare lung cancer," Strauss said in a statement released by the England and Wales Cricket Board on Saturday.
The couple were regulars in Buninyong and Ballarat, where Ruth had grown up, and where the couple owned a property.
The-then Ruth McDonald and Andrew Strauss married in Ballarat in 2003, having met in Sydney when he was playing cricket with Mosman for three seasons.
They had two sons, aged Sam, 13, and Luca, 10.
"Anyone who has met Ruth will know how loving, caring and passionately protective she was of her family and it gives us huge comfort that she was in Australia, the land of her birth, surrounded by those who love her, in her final moments," Strauss said.
The family plan to launch a foundation in Ruths honour.
"Ruth desperately wanted to help those affected by this terrible disease and we will be launching a foundation in due course to raise much needed funds to aid research and also to offer support to patients and their families," her grieving husband said.
Former England Test captain Michael Vaughan said there would be "No better way to launch the foundation would be to make the 3rd Day of the Lord's Test every year the Ruth day ... The same as what happens in Sydney with the McGrath Foundation."
Ruth was diagnosed with a non-smoking related lung cancer during the Ashes campaign in December 2017.
In October, Strauss stepped down from his position as director of England Cricket after three and a half years in the role, to support his wife and family.
Taking time out this summer to support my wife and kids, as Ruth goes through treatment for cancer, has given me the chance to fully consider whats right for England and whats needed at home. The role in cricket requires total focus and commitment to deliver the best results, yet right now I need far more flexibility than could ever be possible in my position in order to support my family, he said.
Cricketers from around the world paid tribute to Ruth on social media.
The couple spent an extended period in Buninyong in 2010 while his English team mates prepared for a tour of Bangladesh, with Andrew visiting Buninyong Cricket Club for a parma and speaking to the clubs junior cricketers. Later that year, he held at family day for the English cricket team at their Ballarat property just before Christmas during the Ashes campaign.
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