England can win Ashes - Flower

With 50 days to go before the Ashes, England coach Andy Flower has said that he believes his team has what it takes to win back the urn following their 2-0 series win over West Indies. Flower was buoyed by the convincing nature of both victories and the way the side is shaping up under Andrew Strauss.

"I think we can win the Ashes, yes," Flower said. "We'll have to play very well and we'll have to be strong over a long period of time but, yes, I do believe we can win them."

Flower's bullishness marks a sharp turnaround in England's fortunes since he first took temporary charge of the team following the double departure of Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores in January. "We've come back well from West Indies," he said. "This is just a really good start to the summer. It's one step forward and I'm very happy with the way the guys have played."

Flower has formed a strong working relationship with Strauss, which started in West Indies despite the Test series defeat, and Flower was full of praise for his captain. "Strauss is a very good leader. He is rock-solid for us. He is our front man and the guys enjoy playing for him. He is strong, honest, fair, ambitious and with a clear vision of what he wants for the England team."

One of the most pleasing aspects of the series win was the way that the new and recalled players slotted into their roles. Ravi Bopara was named Man of the Series after his back-to-back centuries at No.3, while Graham Onions followed his impressive debut with a solid display on home soil and Tim Bresnan got off the mark in Test cricket with three final-day scalps.

But there are likely to be changes when the team lines up to face Australia in Cardiff with the management confident that Andrew Flintoff, who looks set to miss the ICC World Twenty20, will recover from his knee injury. A decision will need to be made soon regarding Flintoff's participation in the tournament, but there is a school of thought that he'd be better off preparing for the Ashes with a spell of Championship cricket with Lancashire.

"It's just a tad early to decide that," Flower said. "There is a strong argument for that, to allow him to play some first-class in preparation for the Ashes. We'll be best advised to listen to the medical people and Flintoff himself as to how his leg is."

With the Sophia Gardens surface under scrutiny for taking excessive turn there is a strong prospect that England will field two spinners, but Flower said it was still premature to be thinking in too much detail about the make-up of the team.

"The conditions later in the summer are going to be different and we don't know who's going to be fit and who isn't going to be fit so it's really difficult to talk about the side that's going to play against the Australians," he added. "I've got my own ideas and Strauss has got his ideas and we sit together and talk about it and plan together."

Flower is also aware that it is dangerous to look too far ahead with England now set for a month of one-day and Twenty20 action. They begin a three-match series against West Indies on Thursday and it is vital that the momentum built up by two Test victories isn't wasted.

Onions and Alastair Cook are the only two Test players not involved in the one-day squad, but there will be a higher turnover when the Twenty20 starts with the likes of Robert Key, James Foster and Graham Napier coming into the fray.

"I do think we have a good squad and we have a few injuries so there's good competition for places as well for later in the summer," Flower said. "As we all know there's a hell of a lot cricket before then that we've really got to put our minds and focus onto. We have certain plans in place and have thoughts about the Ashes, but our first focus is this one-day series against West Indies."