'I've thoroughly enjoyed doing the job' - Strauss

Andrew Strauss sat at his post-match press conference looking drained and a little depressed. This is what captaining England can do to a man, especially when you have twice been within spitting distance of victories after previously being involved in a horrendous batting collapse.

Strauss took the top job at the toughest time, but even he couldn't have imagined what this tour would throw at him on and off the field. That he was able to say he was "enjoying" the role was a good sign because, although only officially confirmed for this tour, he will lead England in the Ashes.

"I've had a good series with the bat which helps and the players have been very supportive which didn't have to be the case," he said. "After what's gone in the last 12 months with a lot of upheaval, certain players might have felt uneasy about another captain taking over, but they all reacted exceptionally well.

"Andy Flower and the rest of coaching team have done an excellent job. Despite the scoreline, I've thoroughly enjoyed doing the job. Obviously, the longer I do it, the better I'll become as a captain and hopefully in the future we can move together as a unit."

Although thousands of miles away, Australia's upturn in fortunes probably hasn't escaped the attention of England. Not that it's healthy to linger on the fortunes of others for too long, but they will find it difficult not to hear of the positive impression made by the likes of Phillip Hughes, Marcus North and Ben Hilfenhaus. This year's Ashes series will be contested by two evolving, developing sides and it's a race to see who starts with their noses in front.

At the moment it seems Australia are coming together in more convincing style, especially as their recent success has been against their challengers for the top spot. England have a number of key issues to resolve before the teams meet in July at Lord's, not least finding a new team director to take overall charge.

It is a tick in the box of both Strauss and Flower that the pairing hasn't come across too strongly as a stand-in solution. The relationship appears to have gelled well, but it remains to be seen whether Flower is chosen for the main role.

One of the key challenges for captain and coach (or team director) will be putting together an attack that can consistently take 20 wickets. In most conditions that means five bowlers and Strauss hopes that the tough lessons learned in this series will be valuable in the future.

"We move back to England which will hopefully suit our bowlers a bit more but if they are armed with the knowledge of how to bowl on flat wickets that's going to help us in the long term," he said.

He singled out James Anderson for significant praise after his burst on the final day was nearly enough to finish off West Indies. "Jimmy has been threatening all series. He's bowled outstandingly well and in some ways it is a travesty that he has not taken a five-wicket haul somewhere along the way because he has troubled every single batsman with both conventional swing and reverse swing. He has come on a long way."

England's immediate focus is the Twenty20 and ODIs against West Indies before they return for the home season with some players making a visit (security permitting) to India first, for the IPL. They will have an immediate chance of revenge against West Indies when they visit for a short two-Test series in May and England would be well advised not to think too far ahead.

"We've got a massive 12 months of cricket ahead of us, an Ashes series that we are all desperate to win and a tour of South Africa which is as hard as anything at the moment," Strauss said. "If we can get two victories that would be an amazing achievement for any England side. There's a huge amount of difficult cricket ahead but also opportunities and I think that's exciting."