England captain Andrew Strauss admitted his side were "nowhere near" producing the level of consistency he is demanding of them despite winning the final match of the one-day series against Australia.

England avoided the humiliation of a 7-0 whitewash defeat after they claimed a four-wicket win at the Riverside.

"This (series) has served as a timely reminder that as a side, we are nowhere near where we want to be, either in Test cricket or one-day cricket," Strauss said. "It brings your feet back down to earth, that's for sure. In international cricket, you have always got to keep looking forward, you can't bask in anything you have done previously anyway."

The victory was built on Graeme Swann's five for 28 as Australia were bowled out for just 176 in 45.5 overs batting first.

While Strauss (47) and his opening partner Joe Denly (53) put on 106 for the first wicket, England made hard work of the chase before eventually surpassing the Australian total six wickets down.

Strauss admitted that claiming back the Ashes was the summer's prime objective, but he said the 6-1 one-day series defeat left them with plenty to ponder.

He added: "We are still going to hold on to that Ashes victory because it was very special and if you don't get excited about those victories, then you are not going to get excited about anything.

"We can be proud of ourselves the way we played in the Ashes, and as a Test side, we have got a lot of the component parts in place; as a one-day side, it's clear we have got some work to do still."