NOTTINGHAM, June 8: Eng-land captain Michael Vaughan called for his team to raise their game even further after completing a 2-0 series victory against New Zealand on Sunday.

England won the third Test by an innings and nine runs, James Anderson finishing with nine for 98 in the match and Ryan Sidebottom claiming six for 67 in the second innings.

“The win here suggests we have got better as the series has gone on,” Vaughan told reporters.

“We also know there are areas to improve and the South Africa series will be the ultimate test to see where we are at as a Test team.”

England’s win at Trent Bridge was set up by a century from Kevin Pietersen and fifties by Tim Ambrose and Stuart Broad, after England were struggling on 86 for five on the first day.

Making a slow start is an area perfectionist Vaughan is seeking to rectify before the South Africans arrive for a four-Test series in July and August.

“I’m encouraged that we are getting out of tricky situations and it’s different people doing it every time, but I would like to not get in those positions,” he added.

“A sign of a good team is getting out of them but a sign of a really good team is not getting in those positions in the first place.

“Those are the areas we can improve but we still have a pretty young side developing.”

Vaughan said he would like the team for the first Test against South Africa at Lord’s on July 10 to include influential all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who is set to come back from a side strain in the Twenty20 Cup this month.

“We have four and a half weeks before that first Test and I certainly hope he will get his side right and get enough cricket and be confident in himself and his form that he can take on the South Africans,” Vaughan said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said his side had been dominated by England.

“I don’t want to take anything away from England. They have dominated us since [the second Test at] Old Trafford on the third day,” Vettori told reporters. “We have to appreciate how well they played and how well their swing bowlers swung the ball.

“We have not been able to keep up with the pace of England. It’s a lack of ability on our part and a lack of fortitude as well. When you get guys like James Anderson bowling the way he did there is very little you can do.”—Reuters