Andrew Strauss has seen the "hunger" he wants from his England team for this Ashes summer in their 2-0 Wisden Trophy dismissal of West Indies.
England wasted little time at the Riverside yesterday regaining, in style and in record time, the trophy they lost in the Caribbean last winter.
James Anderson's match haul of nine for 125 hurried the hosts to victory over West Indies in the second npower Test by an innings and 83 runs. Strauss could also reflect happily on the performances here and at Lord's last week of Ravi Bopara - who made a hundred at each venue - and Alastair Cook, with 160 in England's first-innings 569 for six declared. Newcomer Graham Onions and Stuart Broad have also enhanced their reputations, among others.
Yet the captain is most enthused, with the challenge to be posed by Australia in mind, by the attitude of his team, both in preparation and deed. "The real challenge for anyone captaining a side is to try and get that extra two or three per cent out of a team, which could be the difference between winning or losing a big series," he said.
"If you look at the way the guys are practising at the moment, there's a real hunger to improve, and we need to cultivate that and make sure it grows and grows."
England's success against West Indies is a far cry from their collapse to defeat in the first Test against the same opponents in Jamaica three months ago, not to mention the furore over the demotion of Strauss' predecessor, Kevin Pietersen, to the ranks following his fall-out with the then coach, Peter Moores.
Strauss always sensed he had the right players to help him turn things around but is none the less delighted the team have responded so successfully under him and Andy Flower, the new coach.
"I haven't been overly surprised by the improvement, because I've always felt we've got a lot of talent in English cricket and a good 20-odd players we can choose from," he explained. "Things settled down pretty quickly after the upheaval, which is very encouraging, because it means the players are committed to playing for England.
"There's no hang-ups and there's no ego problems, or anything like that. I think that's really encouraging, and it shows our priorities are right as a side. The talent has always been there and it will continue to be there."
He is also much encouraged by their refusal to let West Indies off the hook once an advantage was gained. "The big positive to come out of it was how clinical we were," he said. "We got on top in both Tests and once we got on top, we stayed on top.
"I'm pretty delighted with how things are going at the moment. We hope we can make sure by the time we meet up again for that next Test match we're reminded of how close we are now, and when times get tougher we need to get even closer."
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