Law warns talented England must lift for Ashes

BRISBANE - Queensland batsman Stuart Law has returned home from another county summer warning that England has assembled a quality squad for its upcoming Ashes campaign in Australia.

But Law said Nasser Hussain's Englishmen must improve on their tied home series with poor travellers India if they wanted to avoid their eighth successive Ashes series loss.

Law saw plenty of the English squad up close during his recent stint with Lancashire - his 14th consecutive cricket season at home and abroad.

"I've got no predictions about who will win the series but they're definitely starting to get a quality, class outfit together," Law said.

"They're hyping it up as the biggest Test series but they're going to have to lift from what happened during their summer.

"They beat Sri Lanka without Murali [spinner Muttiah Muralitharan], and when he did play he didn't appear to be fit.

"They tied India 1-1 at home and if they think that's going to be good enough when they come to Australia, they probably should think again.

"But they've got the personnel if they can forget about things outside cricket and they've got some young cricketers who can learn a lot."

Law praised England's opening batsmen Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan, while pointing to the recent withdrawal of Graham Thorpe as a worry for the middle order.

He said the bowlers, particularly Matthew Hoggard, would toil for Hussain while young paceman Stephen Harmison was quick and extracted handy bounce.

"One thing they do lack is a decent spinner," Law said.

"Ashley Giles' main job is to bowl maidens and, on the pitches here, he's not going to get the same help he's got in other places."

Law will play against England when the tourists meet Queensland in a three-day clash at Allan Border Field from November 2, five days before the first Test at the Gabba.

Law has handed the Queensland captaincy to Jimmy Maher after the most successful reign of any state skipper, leading the Bulls to five first-class titles.

The 33-year-old feels strong despite going seven years without an off-season and is looking forward to playing without the pressure of captaincy.

"When I've played in England and haven't been captain, I've enjoyed the time," Law said.

"Sometimes when you've been captain for a long time you're thinking so much about the 11 blokes on the field that you can tend to overlook yourself."

The Bulls begin the defence of their Pura Cup crown on October 16 against NSW at the Gabba, three days after their ING Cup one-day campaign opens against the Blues in Sydney.