England team won’t undertake open-top bus parade

LONDON - England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Managing Director Hugh Morris has ruled out the possibility of the victorious England cricket team undertaking an open top bus parade similar to the one that was done in 2005.

He told Sky News: “Perhaps last time we partied a bit too long and didn’t plan enough and obviously we know what the result was in Australia 18 months afterwards. We’re going to plan hard, we’ve got some big challenges ahead of us… that’s what we’ve be focusing on.”

The last home Ashes win sparked wild celebrations scenes and an open-top bus parade for the players. It also saw the team enjoy a marathon drinking session, with Andrew Flintoff famously turning up drunk at a Downing Street reception.

Things will be different this time around - with England aiming to capitalise on their success and become the best Test team in the world.

Playing commitments in Belfast later this week also mean the players will not be able to celebrate for too long.

Morris paid particular tribute to captain Andrew Strauss and team director Andy Flower.

Referring to the sackings of Kevin Pietersen as captain and former head coach Peter Moores, he said: “It was a dark, difficult, challenging time for all of us. But the way Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss have marshalled the troops to get to winning an Ashes series seven months later is a fantastic achievement.”

The chairman of selectors, Geoff Miller, told Sky News England can’t afford to dwell on the victory for too long.

“In 2005 we’d not beaten Australia for some time, now it’s a different situation. They can party, they can celebrate but they know there’s still a big job to be done. We want to be the best in the world and to be the best we’ll have to focus on what we do on and off the field,” he said. (ANI)