England's best Ashes XI from the 21st century

Matt Prior

Matt Prior was a sound wicketkeeper

Matt Prior rose to international stardom after striking a dazzling hundred against the Windies. Over the course of his Test career, he constantly displayed a certain belligerence in his approach to the game.

Prior was someone who would walk in and take the game away from the opposition within mere minutes through his dashing strokeplay. He participated in three Ashes-winning English campaigns and was equally good behind the stumps, affecting 63 Australian dismissals throughout his career - the second highest by an English wicketkeeper.

Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff

England's very own wonder-boy is the man many believed single-handedly won them the bitterly-fought Ashes of 2005. There are not many players who made as strong an impact as Andrew Flintoff did in that summer; he quite possibly turned around the fortunes of English cricket.

He took the assault to the likes of Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee, Shane Warne and didn't bat an eyelid. His clinical role in the Ashes wins of 2005 and 2009 will forever be cherished in the history books of the competition.

Flintoff averaged 33, both with the bat and the ball, against the Aussies. But records hardly depict the situations where he would rush in out of the blue, and turn the game on its head with minimal fuss.