A JUBILANT Andrew Strauss last night described England’s emphatic victory at Riverside as the perfect warm-up to this summer’s Ashes series with Australia.

England claimed seven West Indian wickets in a little over two hours yesterday to secure an innings-and-83- run victory and reclaim the Wisden Trophy with a 2-0 series win.

While there is the small matter of a One-Day International series and the Twenty20 World Cup to come in the next month, England’s next appearance on the Test stage will be at Sophia Gardens on July 8 on the opening morning of the Ashes.

Strauss is refusing to get ahead of himself as the biggest series in Test cricket draws near, but the England skipper is happy to be signing off his side’s preparations on such a comprehensive and successful note.

“We’re in a pretty good place at the moment,” said Strauss, after James Anderson and Tim Bresnan shared the seven final-day wickets to fall as the West Indies were dismissed for 176. “The guys are really enjoying their success and we’re a pretty close knit group.

“That always happens when you’re winning, but hopefully we can make sure that by the time we meet up again, we’re reminded of how close we are now “This will have a relevance when we start the Ashes, even though we can’t rely on the fact that we’ve beaten the West Indies twice to carry us through.

“It’s nice to remember what it’s like to win because we haven’t done that as much as we would have liked recently.

We’ve done it twice in a row now and done it in a nice fashion.

“That gives you confidence, although when we start the Ashes series it’ll be back to square one and we’ll have to earn the right to win Test matches.

“We need to realise that the Ashes series is going to be a very stern test and we have to earn the right to win that series this summer.”

Anderson was the key to this victory, with the Lancashire paceman finishing with match figures of 9-125 as he deservedly claimed the man-of-the-match honours.

He bowled superbly yesterday, as the overcast conditions enabled the ball to swing, and his spell on Saturday evening, when he claimed the wickets of Devon Smith, Chris Gayle and Lendl Simmons, proved the pivotal point in the match.

His partnership with Stuart Broad is likely to be crucial to England’s hopes of reclaiming the Ashes, and while the prevailing conditions will always affect his impact, Strauss feels he has finally developed into one of the world’s leading strike bowlers.

“Jimmy’s control with the swinging ball is exceptional,”

said the skipper. “He will be a threat against anyone in the world when it’s swinging around.

“But at the same time, when it’s flat, I think we’ve learned a lot from what happened in the West Indies and we have a Plan B there now as well.

“We know what Jimmy is capable of when the ball is moving around, but in these two Test matches I felt as though we had most things covered.”

Anderson has emerged as England’s ‘go to bowler’ in the last 12 months, and having previously struggled to cement his place in the Test side, the Lancastrian is now one of the first names on coach Andy Flower’s team sheet.

A security of position breeds confidence, and Anderson admits he is finding it easier to perform to his peak without a constant threat of the drop.

“It helps to have a run in the side,” he said.

“I think if anyone gets a run in the side it’s going to improve their confidence, and the fact I’ve had that long run must mean I’m doing something right.

“I feel as though my control is improving each game I play. If I can stay fit and continue to work hard, my bowling should get better and better.”