Mike Gatting was a proud man 14 years ago when he took England to Australia and returned with the Ashes.

Since then a number of captains have tried to emulate Gatting's achievement and not one has succeeded.

And now Gatting himself wants to shed the mantle of having been the last England captain to win the Ashes. He is hoping Nasser Hussain can replace him in English cricket folklore and reclaim the Ashes after six successive series defeats.

"I'd rather lose that mantle as quickly as possible," said Gatting. "It was a long time ago, it's far too long really and I only hope that Nasser and the boys can rectify that.

"It would be really nice to lose it as quickly as possible even though it's the most treasured moment of my time as a player. We won all three series and it was a great winter but it's time we moved on from the past.

"I don't think England are that far behind Australia now, but I don't think they were really in the last few series.

"The big difference is that they were playing as individuals before and the one thing that Duncan Fletcher has done and had to do is get them playing as a team and turn them into a more disciplined unit - he's got them thinking about the team and it shows."

The likes of Alec Stewart and Michael Atherton have only ever known defeat at the hands of the old enemy, but if England are to triumph this summer, says Gatting, they must forget about recent Ashes series.

"I hope England don't dwell on past results and instead focus on the fact that they are unbeaten in the last five Test series and they should be confident," said Gatting.

"They've played in some difficult parts of the world and won, they are at home and they are capable of competing with anybody.

"A successful team is always going to be a lot more confident and one that has gone unbeaten in that time is going to be brimming with confidence and that can only help.

"There seems to be a feeling in the side now that if they have a bad session, they come out and have a good one and that is usually a sign of a very good side.

"When they are struggling and have lost the odd match, instead of getting too down about it, they try and pick themselves up and take the positives out of it."

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