By Martin Gough

After a summer filled with impressive individual achievement, Michael Vaughan's England team have earned a place in the record books.

England celebrate their seventh win of the season

In their 127 years of Test cricket, England have only won seven successive Test matches on two previous occasions and only 10 teams have managed the feat.

Series whitewashes are rare enough but England have managed two this summer with a 3-0 verdict over New Zealand and four wins against West Indies.

Victory over South Africa in Port Elizabeth in December would see them break new ground for an England side, with one of the five longest winning streaks in history.

"It probably won't settle in for a few days the extent of what we've done this summer but we'll certainly be celebrating," said skipper Michael Vaughan.

According to this statistic at least, Vaughan's men are better than Mike Brearley's Ashes heroes of 1981 and the side of the late 1950s, which is often considered England's finest.

A team captained by Peter May and Colin Cowdrey beat a poor Indian touring side in 1959 in what was, until now, England's only whitewash in a series of more than three matches.

LONGEST WINNING STREAKS 16 Australia 1999-2001 11 West Indies 1983-85 9 South Africa 2001-03 9 Sri Lanka 2001-02 8 Australia 1920-21 7 England 2004 7 Australia 2002/03 7 England 1884-88 7 England 1928-29 7 West Indies 1984-86 7 West Indies 1988-89

Test cricket was in its infancy, with Australia their only possible opponents and touring teams little more than invitation sides, when England won seven matches on the bounce from 1884-88, spanning four series.

And they completed another run of seven - including West Indies' first three Tests and four against Australia - in 1928-29 with a side boasting the likes of Jack Hobbs and Wally Hammond.

Compiling a winning streak is about far more than ability, though. Weather plays a massive part, as does the quality of pitches and running into the right teams at the right time.

And the nature of Test cricket in the modern era also makes regular results far more likely.

Of the current five longest winning streaks, three have been set in the last four years and England have been responsible for bringing an end to two of them

English early season conditions provided a stark contrast after Sri Lanka's run of nine wins in the subcontinent in 2002.

Brian Lara's side are ranked eighth in the world

And a draw at Edgbaston in 2003 was enough to end Nasser Hussain's captaincy but also stopped South Africa's record run on nine.

The attacking batting style popularised by Steve Waugh's Australians as they compiled an awe-inspiring 16 matches without draw or defeat has been adopted by their rivals.

More matches are played than ever before and International Cricket Council regulations now require time lost to bad weather to be made up on other days, allowing matches the time to reach natural conclusions.

Where once a lesser Test team could bat to the safety of a draw, there is now little refuge.

The Test Championship Table puts New Zealand seventh in the world, and West Indies a spot below them.

The biggest test for this team will come with next summer's visit of Australia, and before then a tough tour of South Africa, but the signs are good.

Spinner Ashley Giles confirmed: "We've got a fantastic set-up here.

"We just need to build and go on to next year."