ROD MARSH, the former Australia wicketkeeper who became director of England’s National Academy and, as such, a Test selector, believes that now Michael Vaughan’s team have won the Ashes, they can go on to establish themselves as the best in the world.

Marsh might have been expected to have mixed feelings as he watched the country he represented so fiercely in 96 Test matches surrender the famous urn yesterday, but he said: “England deserved to win. Had they not won the Ashes, it would have been a travesty of justice because they played the better cricket, pure and simple.

“They were never going to do it easily because Australia are the No 1 team in the world, but that’s the way it should be. If they can beat Australia, they can beat anybody and now it is very important for England to go away this winter and beat Pakistan and India.”

Marsh, who is about to leave the academy and hand over to Peter Moores, should take some of the credit for England’s resurgence.

“It’s not down to any individual,” he said. “It is the players who have done the job and that is the way it always has been.”