Andrew Flintoff feels England's one-day success over Australia counts for little in relation to the Ashes and believes the two sides' forthcoming Test series against Pakistan will give a much better indication of how they might fare Down Under this winter.
England wrapped up the NatWest Series at Old Trafford on Sunday with victory by a single wicket, making it 3-0 overall with two one-day internationals still to play.
Andrew Strauss' side are now targeting a 5-0 whitewash and, having also triumphed against the Australians in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 last month, would appear to hold the psychological edge ahead of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane in November.
However, although Flintoff admits England's recent limited-overs record against the Australians will have boosted their confidence to an extent, the 32-year-old thinks the teams' performances in the longer format of the game against Pakistan this summer will provide far more clues about their prospects for the end of the year.
"I wouldn't look too much into it," Flintoff, who retired from Test cricket after last year's Ashes, said.
"We are at the end of June, start of July and playing a one-day series against Australia and the Test side will be very different.
"With the two different forms of the game, we can take a bit of confidence from it, but I don't think it plays a major part.
"The one thing over the next few months will be to see how Australia and England play against Pakistan - the two series are both in England, so let's see how the Test sides have progressed."
