Matthew Hoggard has said that England can return to the top of the world Test rankings following their Ashes victory.

England won the fourth test by an innings to secure the Ashes, and Hoggard thinks that the team will keep improving.

"I certainly wasn't expecting England to have had the Ashes sewn up before the fifth Test," Hoggard said on his column on the Ladbrokes website.

"But from what I've seen I think this series marks the start of a new era for Test cricket in this country, one that can see us return to the very top of the game once again.

"We've had a new head coach come in who I think has done fantastically well. We've got a group of players who are not that old, and can stick together for the next three or four years. Yes, you might lose James Anderson a little bit further down the line, but the nucleus of the side can stay together for a long time."

Hoggard took 248 wickets during his England career, and was part of the 2005 Ashes-winning squad.