England coach Andy Flower has insisted his side will keep their World Twenty20 final win over Australia in perspective ahead of the upcoming Ashes series with their oldest foes.
England, who hold the Ashes after a 2-1 win on home soil last year, beat Australia by a convincing seven wicket margin at the Kensington Oval here on Sunday to win their first major international limited overs title. They now face home series against Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well as several one-day internationals against Australia, before heading ‘Down Under’.
England have not won a Test series in Australia since 1986/87 and, with several of the personnel on both sides in the five-day format set to be different from the respective Twenty20 teams, Flower was wary of reading too much into Sunday’s success.
“The Ashes tour is six months away,” he said here on Monday. “Every time we come up against Australia it does have some sort of shift in the balance of power,” the former Zimbabwe international added.
“But we do know they have been an incredible side for a long time and we know that when we go to Australia we will have a huge fight on our hands. There are no illusions in our camp about that.”
Meanwhile Flower, while proud of England had belied their reputation as a modest one-day team to win the third edition of the World Twenty20, made it clear there was still room for improvement. “I think there is a long way for us to go,” said Flower, thrust into his post in January last year after a row that cost star batsman Kevin Pietersen the England captaincy and Peter Moores his job as England coach.