Fifth ranked England team cannot afford to rest on Ashes laurels: Flower

Fifth ranked England team cannot afford to rest on Ashes laurels: FlowerLondon, Aug 25 : England coach Andy Flower has promised fans his Ashes-winning side will not rest on their laurels.

The former Zimbabwe ace helped mastermind the 2-1 series victory over Australia alongside captain Andrew Strauss. But with England still only fifth in the world Test rankings, the 41-year-old claims the hard work starts now.

"I'm very proud of our guys, they did a brilliant job over the series and came back from a tough position on a number of occasions. But we have got a long way to go as a side, we are still No. 5 in the world and we''ve got a long way to go to be where we want to be," The Sun quoted Flower, as saying.

"I thought we were in with a chance against Australia but I knew we were underdogs. Australia have been the best team in the world for a long time but we knew we had a chance and we've taken it," he said.

Flower was catapulted into the role at the start of the year following the high profile bust-up between previous head coach Peter Moores and Kevin Pietersen.

Strauss took over as skipper, with Flower made temporary head coach for the tour of West Indies.

That role became permanent at the start of the summer, with Flower praising the efforts of his captain for bringing success so soon. (ANI)