Andrew Strauss leads his victorious England side of the field at Trent Bridge

Andrew Strauss has called for England to string together a consistent run of results as they gear up for the defence of the Ashes in Australia this winter.

England's 354-run victory over Pakistan at Trent Bridge on Sunday was their fifth Test win in a row and gave them a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

"Our biggest aim is consistency and you don't do that in one game," he said.

And Strauss backed Kevin Pietersen to improve his form, despite going 22 innings without a Test century.

Pietersen, who had not batted in the middle for nearly a month after his county side Hampshire refused to play him in a one-day game before the Trent Bridge Test, looked awkward in the first innings, scoring nine runs from 29 deliveries.

He regained his composure during the second innings, scoring 22 before wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal held on to a superb diving one-handed catch on the leg side to dismiss the South African-born batsman.

South Africa last winter showed us that against the best teams in their conditions we've got a lot of work to do Andrew Strauss

However, the 30-year-old has been one of England's most consistent performers over the past five years, scoring 5197 runs in 63 Tests, including 16 centuries, at an impressive average of 48.57.

"He's obviously very determined to make a telling contribution," said Strauss. "He wasn't able to do it in this game, although I thought he batted much better in the second innings.

"I think he's going to come right very soon. To judge any one player on this Test match would be wrong."

England's four previous victories had all come against Bangladesh, but prior to that they drew 1-1 in South Africa after being outplayed in three of the four Tests.

But Sunday's victory puts England in an excellent position as they prepare for Friday's second Test at Edgbaston 1-0 up in the four-match series.

"We have won five Test matches in a row, but certainly that Bangladesh series you would expect us to win," added Strauss.

"South Africa last winter showed us that against the best teams in their conditions we've got a lot of work to do."

Strauss said he drew "a lot of heart" from England's performance in the first Test at Trent Bridge, where Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior both made centuries after England's top-order had faltered.

James Anderson claimed the first 10-wicket haul of his Test career, while Stuart Broad and Steven Finn also impressed in swinging conditions.

"If you want to be a top quality Test team you are going to need guys to get you out of trouble at times, so that's encouraging," continued Strauss.

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"And you can say that Pakistan [batted] poorly, but I prefer to focus on the bowling. There's no better bowler in the world when it's swinging than Jimmy, and he was backed up very well by the other two [Broad and Finn]."

England face three more Tests against Pakistan in August, before two Twenty20 internationals and a five-match one-day series against the same opponents in September.

After a six-week break, the tour of Australia begins on 5 November with the first Ashes Test starting 20 days later in Brisbane.

England won back the famous urn after a 2-1 victory on home soil in 2009.

"It's in the back of everyone's mind, but this week and next week we'll be focussing on Pakistan," reflected man-of-the-match Anderson.

"I think it's really, really important for the whole team to get some form in this series, because we've got 15 days of Test cricket left to go, so we've got to work really hard and build up some form and momentum before the Ashes."

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