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England skipper Andrew Strauss will push Ashes glory to the back of his mind when their World Cup adventure starts here today.

The series Down Under was an experience that no Englishman who took part in it will ever forget but today is the day it enters the past.

Their opponents may only be Holland, and it may only be the first of England's six games in Group B, but the goal has to be to win the World Cup for the first time when the final eventually takes place in Mumbai on April 2.

That would be an achievement to rank alongside and perhaps even surpass what England accomplished by winning a Test series in Australia for the first time in 24 years.

That does not change the fact that subliminally, at least, there must be a temptation among England's players, and fans, to regard this marathon tournament as an Ashes afterthought.

That was certainly the way they viewed the one-day series in Australia which England, bedevilled by injuries and mental tiredness, lost 6-1.

But when Strauss bounded up five flights of stairs at the stadium yesterday to address the media, he insisted England were as motivated as ever about the competition ahead.

"It isn't going to be a problem for this group of players to raise itself to the same pitch we achieved for the Ashes," Strauss said. "Not for the World Cup.

"It only happens every four years. If you are lucky, you might play in two or three in your career. You don't want to have any regrets at the end of it so I don't think that's a problem.

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"That was an accusation you could have levelled at us in the one-day series against Australia but not in the World Cup. We are up for it. We are excited. There is a good vibe and buzz about everything out here at the moment. It is a massive event and we want to do ourselves proud."

The tournament has attracted plenty of criticism because its format of two groups of seven teams, with four qualifying from each group, makes it not only more cumbersome but less likely to let an underdog force its way into the quarter-finals.

But England are in the tougher of the two groups and a slip-up against any one of Holland, Ireland or Bangladesh would risk Bangladesh qualifying for the last eight at England's expense.

That is unlikely to happen. For all the frailty they showed in the one-dayers against Australia, this is an England side still full of momentum and belief. The promotion of Kevin Pietersen to open the batting and Matt Prior's move to the middle order has reinvigorated the side and breathed a renewed sense of optimism into England's players.

Strauss said that he had taken great encouragement from last week's warm-up victory over Pakistan in Bangladesh when England returned to the aggressive style that has rewarded them so much in the past couple of years.

"It is all about confidence," Strauss said. "And we gained quite a lot of confidence out of that Pakistan game purely because it was going back to a formula that has worked for us quite well in the past."

Joint hosts India are the favourites to win with Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa all priced at lower odds than England, too.

But if Strauss and his side can find a way to make everything they achieved during the Ashes work for them rather than against them, more glory may yet await.

Watch World Cup video at www.mirror.co.uk

Labels: Andrew, Ashes, glory, Holland, Match, Mirrorcouk, Strauss