Botham backs 'match-winning' England for a 5-0 win in the return Ashes Down Under

Former England Test captain Sir Ian Botham has backed Ashes heroes England to win 5-0 in the return series in Australia as he believes that England has the players to win again, especially a match-winning bowling attack.

According to the Mirror, Botham stated that England won a moral victory at The Oval if not an actual one and fulfilled his expectations of being the better team throughout this summer's Ashes series.

Expecting England to have a far better chance of winning the return Ashes series than their archrivals, Botham said that England is well-drilled, ruthless, knows how to win and did their needful on the final day of the last Test, adding that he expects 'quiet' players like captain Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott to fire again in Australia.

According to Botham, England has quality players like James Anderson, Graeme Swann, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen, adding that despite not having Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn or Chris Tremlett in the squad for the final Test, England still managed to save face and score a draw.

However, Botham warned that Australia would be harder to beat in the return series because they would have leant a lot about themselves during the England tour, adding that players like Chris Rogers, Steve Smith and all-rounder Shane Watson will be happier at home and finally blossom into the cricketers they deserve to be.