Vaughan: We're Still Not the Real Deal

After producing one hour's play in the morning that was so ruthless as to make their eventual win seem almost perfunctory, England's celebrations were a touch muted - until the champagne was opened, at least, and captain Michael Vaughan found himself soaked through.

Vaughan was cautious in his appraisal of the team's performance. "Of course I'm very pleased with the way we've got better as the series has gone on,'' Vaughan said afterwards, "but we're a developing team, and we've got a long way to go before we're the real deal."

His opposite number, Dan Vettori, picked out the Sunday of the Old Trafford Test as the turning point of the series: "To hit Old Trafford and play so well for two-and-a-half days and then let it slip away was thoroughly disappointing. Since then England have dominated the series. We were thoroughly outplayed in this match, apart from two sessions in the field it was a real struggle for us."

Asked if he regretted his decision to put England in after winning the toss, Vettori stood by his judgment. "At 86-5 I thought we were well in it, but that partnership between Pietersen and Ambrose really took the game away from us.''

Jimmy Anderson won man of the match for his first innings spell of 7-43, while Vettori and Andrew Strauss picked up the awards for men of the series. For Strauss, who finished the series with 266 runs, it represents a dramatic turnaround in fortunes. "Over the last 12 months I didn't know where my next run was coming from. Mentally, my 100 in Napier made a huge difference to me, and freed and freshened me up a lot,'' he said.

Attention now turns towards the one-day series, with a Twenty20 international to be played on June 13. That, Vettori pointed out, will be a very different type of contest: "That's our specialty - we're ranked third in the world.''