Strauss tells England not to 'descend' to Aussies' level to ensure Ashes success

Retired English cricketer and Ashes winning captain Andrew Strauss believes that England's team is superior but it should not 'descend' to the level of the Australian team in order to ensure success in the Ashes series.

Strauss has cautioned the England team, which is preparing for its third consecutive Ashes triumph, about the dangers of disciplinary and team harmony issues adding that a team cannot win the Ashes series with one or two good players but a team, which is able to get the best out of all 11 players, Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Pointing out the bowling skills that England has, Strauss said that the team appears stronger than Australia, which may have some promising seam bowlers, but their batting appears vulnerable and inexperienced against England.

England has Graeme Swann, Monty Panesar and James Tredwell who deliver quality spin, which may threaten the Australian side.

According to the report, Strauss said that Australia needs to start off well and Trent Bridge, where the Tests begin, is important because it might help the seamers more than anywhere else.

Strauss further pointed out that it is questionable whether England is comfortable being favourite and perceived that they played best as underdogs adding that the mindset of the team players need to be that of a dominant nature and not descending to the level of the rival team, the report added.