Coach Duncan Fletcher has hailed England's [Images] team as the best he has worked with.

Fletcher is delighted the way his players recovered from the first-Test defeat by Australia at Lord's to win the second match of the Ashes series in Birmingham and draw the third in Manchester after dominating throughout at Old Trafford.

"We asked the side to play consistently well over longer periods of time and they have done that for 12 sessions (in the third test)," Zimbabwean Fletcher told British newspapers on Wednesday.

"It is the best side I have ever worked with. It makes it exciting that they can hold their concentration for a lot longer. There is a lot of self-belief."

World champions Australia, handed a lifeline when rain washed out most of the third day at Old Trafford, finished Monday's fifth and final day on 371 for nine having been set an unlikely 423 to win.

The match ended with the last two batsmen, Brett Lee [Images] and Glenn McGrath, surviving the final 24 balls with all of England's fielders gathering around like vultures.

The fourth Test in Nottingham starts on August 25.