YOU could argue a very good case for England's Test series win in South Africa being a better achievement than winning the Ashes last summer.

The obvious thing for an English cricketer would be to say no because, growing up, the Ashes is the only series you dream of playing in.

There's the dramatics that go with it and the depth of rivalry. So in that respect, no, it's not.

But you look at the hard facts of beating the number one side in their own backyard and it certainly is. I'm sure the lads will take as much enjoyment out of this series win as they did the Ashes.

The only thing for the lads is that they're not as strong as they have been without the likes of Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander. But they're ranked number one in the world for a reason, even though their line-up doesn't look as formidable as it once did.

They've been the best international side over a sustained period of time.

In sport you go through periods where you have to bring in a new batch of players and it's been like that for a few years for England.

Since the Ashes in 2013/14, when you had Trott, Pietersen, Bresnan – Tremlett was on that tour as well. From then to now, it's a new team, but one that has the credentials to be the number one in the world, definitely.

It's got a great mix of younger players and experience. Anderson, Broad, Cook and Root provide the nucleus of the side and around them there are some talented young players.

I was out of the house when Stuart Broad ripped through South Africa at Johannesburg in the third Test but it was amazing to watch on the highlights.

Broad's spell was exceptional and number one in the world is testament to him. He performs year on year and puts in those big performances.

He got me out in the summer when he played for Notts at Headingley – but the frustrating thing was that I could have avoided it. I whacked my back pad with the bat and just missed a straight one.

He has had his critics in the past but there is no doubt that he's a match-winner.

The toughest thing about facing him is that he just doesn't give you any bad balls to hit. He's also a big lad and having the ball coming down from six foot six or seven, it makes him such a tricky customer.

After all the fitness work in the early stages of pre-season, I have been batting in the nets at Headingley since just before Christmas.

I have been batting two to three times a week and I'm happy with how it's going. I'm working on a few things technically.

I'm trying to stay a bit taller at the crease. I picked up a bad habit last year of staying crouched in the crease. In previous years, I'd been nice and tall, which worked.

I'm happy with where I'm going and excited about the latter stages of pre-season.

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IT WAS obviously disappointing to see Adelaide and then Perth, two teams with Yorkshire links, get knocked out of the Big Bash in the semi-finals late last week.

They are probably the teams who have played the best T20 cricket in that tournament, yet we saw that it doesn't make any difference once you get to the knockouts.

The Strikers played brilliantly through the comp to top the table, which I'm not sure many would have predicted before the tournament. They have outplayed some star-studded teams. It's almost bitter sweet for them.

From our perspective at Yorkshire, there were massive positives to take because Adil Rashid has been in amazing form. He consistently bowled well, which is great to see for England as well with a T20 World Cup coming up.

No doubt Jason Gillespie will be bitterly disappointed and hurting for a bit that he couldn't take the Strikers beyond a second successive semi-final.

But I'm sure coming back to a different environment before the end of the month at Yorkshire will help him get over it.

On the whole, I'm sure it will give him a better understanding of how we need to go forward in our one-day cricket.

I've kept in touch with him while he's been out in Australia, more so with some ideas that we're looking to implement at Yorkshire.

I didn't want to pester him – but we are in pre-season and around four weeks through preparation. I want to make sure we're all on the same page with regards to white-ball cricket and in the loop.

When he comes back, we will sit down and have a good chat about it all.

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