Former England captain Andrew Strauss has insisted that Michael Carberry deserves his chance to open the batting in the upcoming Ashes series.

Carberry has hit two high scores in England's warm-up games and Strauss said that the Hampshire man's experience would see him take to the Ashes environment.

"Having Michael come in and get some runs is quite significant for the team," Sky Sports News quotes Strauss as saying. "I think you can start pencilling his name into the starting team-sheet.

"Things are starting to get clearer for England which is important prior to that first Test.

"He's a very experienced cricketer who has been around for a long time and he's got a good back-foot game. It's a bit of a step into the unknown and opening the batting in Australia is pretty tough."

England retained The Ashes in the recent series on home soil.