England to be world’s top test team – Stewart

LONDON, (Reuters) – England will go on from their  Ashes ‘annihilation’ of Australia to overtake India and South  Africa and become the world’s top-ranked test nation within 18  months, according to former captain Alec Stewart.

Alec Stewart

The 47-year-old, who played in a record 133 tests and led  his country 15 times, said third-ranked England would carry on  improving after the recent 3-1 Ashes victory in Australia.

“England are on the right road because the players are going  to stay together for a length of time,” Stewart told Reuters in  a telephone interview.

“If you look at (top-ranked) India, Sachin Tendulkar won’t  go on for ever and nor will people like Rahul Dravid so that  side will gradually break up whereas our team will be very  similar for the next four or five years.

“I think we are growing and improving while India and South  Africa are just about at their peak. I seriously believe we will  hit that number one spot within 18 months,” added Stewart.

The former Surrey batsman-wicketkeeper, who amassed 8,463  test runs at an average of 39.54 before retiring in 2003, was  delighted with England’s recent victory especially after being  on the receiving end of several Ashes defeats in his career.

“It was fantastic to go to a place where we haven’t won for  24 years and absolutely hammer them,” said Stewart. “I might be  an ex-player but I’m a huge England fan and that was great to  watch.

“I never like to say I told you so but I did predict on BBC  radio before the series that it was going to be 3-1. I didn’t  though predict they would win three matches by an innings.

“I thought it would be closer than that. I knew Australia  wouldn’t be a great side because of the top players they have  lost in recent years but I didn’t expect England to play as well  as they did — they absolutely annihilated them,” added Stewart.

NO SUPERSTARS

The former captain, who is also second behind Paul  Collingwood in terms of England one-day international  appearances (170), said the pre-tour planning of coach Andy  Flower and captain Andrew Strauss was the key to Ashes glory.

“The preparation, itinerary and attention to detail from  Andy’s coaching staff was first class and shone through,” said  Stewart.
“Strauss also led very well, the combination of Strauss and  Flower has been tremendous. They are hard working, they leave  nothing to chance and they demand everyone mucks in together.

“There are no so-called superstars, everyone is expected to  do the hard yards and to perform.”

Australia may have lost great players like Shane Warne,  Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer  in recent years but Stewart said that should not detract from  England’s achievement.

“The team I played in probably played against the best side  ever and we certainly weren’t as good as the current England  side,” said Stewart.

“Australia now are certainly not the side they were but  we’ve played exceptionally good cricket. I wouldn’t want people  to think that because this Australian team isn’t as good that  England wouldn’t have beaten the old side too,” added Stewart.

“Who’s to say they wouldn’t have beaten them too? We’ll  never know. All you can say is that we outplayed them and  performed in every facet of the game.”

Stewart, however, said the management team would not allow  the players to rest on their laurels.

“The good thing about the Flower-Strauss partnership is they  seem very level headed,” he added. “They win the Ashes and then  say, ‘Right it’s time to move on to this month’s seven one-day  internationals and then the 50-over World Cup (in February).’
“They want to become the best side in the world in all forms  of the game. As they move on they’re ticking things off along  the way and that is what I like about them.

“They quite rightly made sure they celebrated the Ashes  success but they also made sure they kept their feet firm firmly  on the ground.”