Ashes on minds of Test stars

Andrew Strauss © Getty Images

England’s in-form squad enter their final Test of the summer knowing their prospects of participation in the eagerly-awaited Ashes series could depend on their performances at the Brit Oval.

Despite their desire to complete an emphatic 3-0 npower Test series triumph over Pakistan, stand-in captain Andrew Strauss has revealed this winter’s Australian challenge is the major motivation this week.

With several injured England players on course to return for the first Test at Brisbane on November 23, competition will become increasingly intense for those hoping to take the field at the Gabba.

But England also want to lay down an important marker to Australia in their last Test before the start of the Ashes and give them an indication of how competitive they have become even without key players like Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones.

Captain Strauss is keen to maintain England's momentum on Thursday © Getty Images

Strauss said: “Momentum is important and winning becomes a habit so if we can make it three in a row, that would be some really good momentum heading into the Ashes series, but more immediately heading into the one-day series.

“We all really want to improve on what we did against Sri Lanka and if we win this Test that gives us a nice launchpad to go into that series - it was very important for us to do well in this series.

“The Sri Lankan Test series didn’t go as well as we’d like and the one-day series was pretty poor so to come back well in this series and beat a good Pakistan side shows we’re still a very competitive Test match side - if we needed a boost in confidence before the Ashes we’ve got one.”

While Australia have recalled players like Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke following their Ashes humbling, England have found a new batch of exciting young talent.

Alastair Cook, Monty Panesar, Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood have all burst onto the scene in the absence of England’s injured senior players to leave the selectors facing one of their toughest selections for an Ashes tour in years.

Kevin Pietersen practices in the Oval nets © Getty Images

Strauss continued: “As a team we’re very motivated to keep winning.

“I think that’s important after the tricky start to the summer we had and as individuals we’ve all got motivation to keep performing well because the other guys in the team are doing it and there is a bit of competition there.

“The guys who have come in have performed well and the more often you perform well for England, the more comfortable you feel in the set-up.

“I think it’s a great position to be in going forward to the rest of the summer and the winter.

“There are probably 15 to 16 guys now who feel comfortable in the set-up rather than just 11 or 12.

“That’s very healthy for the team and it means that if we do have an injury or two there’s always a capable back-up player there for us.”

Competition for places is now very strong © Getty Images

England expect to announce a squad as big as 18 for the Ashes series in the next three weeks, but those players involved at The Oval know the selectors are likely to judge them on their most recent performances.

Strauss added: “When selectors gather to pick a side they look at a number of things and I think the primary thing they look at is how well they’ve been doing recently and what their form’s been like recently.

“From that point of view you look at how they’ve done in their last Test and to a certain extent you look at how they’ve been doing in one-day cricket as well.

“Some of the guys in this squad might not necessarily be playing in the one-day team so regardless of what happens later on in the series, what happens this week is going to be very, very important.”