Strauss wants to build on Ashes win

Andrew Strauss has demanded his England side view their Ashes triumph as only a stepping stone to become the world's best team.

England arrived in South Africa for their two-and-a-half month tour with the long-term goal of replacing Graeme Smith's side at the top of the rankings.

"We've talked a lot about how winning the Ashes is not the end of the road, it's almost the starting point for us to improve," Strauss said. "We'd be lying if we didn't want to be the number one side in the world."

He added: "But if you look at how the ranking system works it will take a number of years of solid progression from where we are at the moment and consistency is crucial.

"Ultimately it's about not taking our foot off the gas.

"The perception of the post-2005 period is that we took our eye off the ball quite badly. I'm not comfortable with that myself.

"I remember that Pakistan tour and how hard we worked at it. We had a number of very crucial ijuries which didn't help.

"If you look at our performances over the last 12 months we're far from the genuine article and where we want to be.

"No one in the squad truly believes we've made it, we've got a long way to go. I want to see our players hungry and committed."