After Ashes win, England now needs to focus on the future: Fraser

London, Aug.24 (ANI): Former fast bowler Angus Fraser believes that England have achieved something special through their Ashes series triumph over Australia, but has now urged Strauss and company to now focus on the future.

In a write-up for The Independent, Fraser said: "For Strauss and Flower, the management of this situation potentially provides an even bigger challenge than defeating Ricky Ponting's side in the first place. The pair will celebrate in style but neither will be satisfied with what they have achieved. Each will be aware the team is not yet where they want it to be."

He further goes on to say that Strauss' experiences in the past four years should stand him in good stead for the challenges that lie ahead.

"The nature of the England captain means that he would have been one of the least affected by the fallout of 2005, yet his career during the period has been far from incident-free. Strauss has had to endure being wrongly overlooked as England captain on two occasions. He has had to deal with being dropped, re-selected and then play several career-saving innings. Strauss' character has allowed him to overcome these trials and he will not tolerate players who become distracted and fail to pull their weight.

Flower is a man with a similar outlook on life, and it is why the pair seem comfortable in each other's company," he adds.

"The responsibility for setting the right example should come from the top - the England and Wales Cricket Board," he says.

Making a comparison with England's Ashes triumph of 2005, Fraser says this year's series was nowhere near the standards of quality and class on show four years go.

"England's 2005 victory came as a result of two years hard work by Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher, the coach. During that period, the pair took control of the thoughts and focus of the players under their control and channelled them on to the team and what they could give to it to make it successful. When the players came together to celebrate it was entirely natural. They genuinely enjoyed each other's company and success and wanted to share in it," he says.

But he says that series victory had a downside in that Vaughan's team sought to capitalise on their achievement monetarily.

"Instead of looking in and contemplating what they could give to the side, individuals began to look outwards, wondering what they could take from it. The result of the distraction was England winning just one of the five Test series that followed the 2005 Ashes. The shortcomings of the team were highlighted in humiliating fashion 18 months later when Andrew Flintoff's side were walloped 5-0 in Australia," Fraser said.

"This has been an intriguing series but its quality has been nowhere near as high as that of 2005 when Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Marcus Trescothick, Simon Jones and Vaughan were strutting their stuff. Had either England or Australia played like this against South Africa or India they would have been comprehensively beaten," he adds. (ANI)