LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Two England cricket captains have had huge influences on Andrew Strauss’s meteoric rise. Both, however, did so inadvertently.

Indeed, had it not been for the one’s bad knee and the another’s bad call, Strauss, man of the match in the first test win over South Africa on Tuesday, might conceivably not yet have played a single test for England.

As it is, the 27-year-old has played eight and England have won them all to put together the most successful winning run in their 127-year test history, totalling 828 matches.

Michael Vaughan’s contribution to the Strauss fairytale came just before the first test against New Zealand in May this year when the current England skipper collapsed in the nets. A hospital scan on his right knee confirmed him out of the match.

The uncapped Strauss was not in the 13-man squad but was called up as cover.

On day two at Lord’s, preferred to Paul Collingwood and batting in front of his home crowd, he made 112 to become the first English batsman there for 35 years to reach three figures in his maiden test innings.

On day five, the Middlesex left-hander looked set to become the first Englishman and the third man in history to score two centuries in his opening match.

Vaughan’s predecessor Nasser Hussain, however, called him for a non-existent run and ran him out for 83 before hanging his head in horror.

Hussain made some amends with an unbeaten century of his own to win the game, his 96th test. But within days, his mind concentrated by Strauss’s misfortune, he had decided to retire to make way for his younger rival.

Unsure if there would be room in the England side for Strauss despite his fine debut, Hussain said: "I don’t really want to go in the middle of the series, I want to see it out and beat the New Zealanders but I don’t want to see a young lad who got 200 in a game left out for me.

"The last thing I want to is to hold anyone back. I would hate that to happen to me."

It has not happened to anyone else either.

Every side Strauss has come across have been greeted with a century. He made 137 in the first test against West Indies in July and now 126 and 94 not out against South Africa.