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London: The Australia team that surrendered the Ashes to England at The Oval on Sunday has been backed by both team captains to rebound with future victories without the need for dramatic changes.
England won by 197 runs to claim a 2-1 series victory and regain the urn from Australia after it won the Ashes 5-0 in 2006-07.
Despite the series reverse, Australia is still seen as a developing team that is very much a work in progress after so many celebrated players such as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer retired from its ranks in recent years.
England skipper Andrew Strauss famously said before the third Test the Australia team had "lost its aura" because of the exodus of key players.
"The fact they didn't have the aura is because there are a lot of players at the start of their careers so if you think about it logically they are going to get better and better," Strauss told reporters Sunday.
"They are going to be hungry after this series to make sure it doesn't happen again. There's a lot of talent in that side so the last thing you would ever say is that Australian cricket is in a bad place, it's far from it."
Ben Hilfenhaus (aged 26), Mitchell Johnson (27) and Peter Siddle (24) all claimed more wickets in the series than England's highest wicket-taker Stuart Broad, who took 18 scalps. Their youthfulness bodes well for Australia.
Furthermore, vice-captain Michael Clarke finished the second-top run-scorer in the series to Strauss and he is just 28.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting is adamant his developing side has room for improvement.
Australia slipped to fourth in the ICC Test championship rankings following the series loss. It has been defeated in three of its last five Test series, though beat the current world number one side South Africa in South Africa earlier this year.
"I'm comfortable with where we at, we've been rebuilding for 12 to 18 months, (with) guys who have a few Tests under their belts who are still learning about the game," Ponting said. "There couldn't be a better example for the young guys than the last couple of months.
"They all should be a lot better off for being part of this series. They all should have learned about the conditions, a lot about how one ball, one over, one hour can turn a series," he added. "We're definitely heading in the right direction and I'm really proud of the guys."
