England’s triumphant captain Andrew Strauss said his team would not be indulging in extravagant celebrations like the open-top bus scenes that marked the side’s last Ashes series victory in 2005.
Back then, Michael Vaughan’s team recorded England’s first series win over the Australians since 1986—87, following eight consecutive series losses. The resulting celebrations saw the players paraded through the streets of central London in the bus while an estimated 750,000 fans lined the streets to cheer them.
Those celebrations appeared to be “over the top” when Ricky Ponting’s team took revenge in the most emphatic manner by sweeping the 2006-07 series 5-0, as stars like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer ended their international careers on a high.
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There is not space to schedule such an excursion this time with the England team flying to Ireland Tuesday to start its preparations for an upcoming series of one-day internationals against Australia.
“There will just be a nice muted celebration somewhere,” Strauss told reporters after his team had recorded a 197-run win Sunday for a 2-1 series victory at The Oval.
“The last time we hadn’t won the Ashes for 18 years so it was almost a step into the unknown for all of us. No one in the team had won an Ashes series before,” Strauss said.
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“This time there were a few in the side that have. We have got to be conscious that this is just a stepping stone. It’s not the end in itself.”