"To my mind, England have three match-winners in Flintoff, the 'white West Indian' Harmison and Vaughan," Waugh wrote in his column in The Hindu newspaper on Thursday.

"England will take great comfort from knowing that they have a bowler capable of both intimidation and strike power in Harmison, who can produce decisive spells," said Waugh, 40.

"But he needs to take 30 wickets if he wants to help England regain the Ashes from a squad of Australian players yet to taste Ashes defeat."

England, who last won the Ashes in 1986-87, hope to return to winning ways when they clash with Australia in the opening Test at Lord's on Thursday.

"Flintoff's performance will bear a direct correlation to his team's fortunes and as such he will be targeted by Australia with aggressive body language and positive play," said the former Australian captain.

Waugh, the second-highest scorer in Test cricket with 10,927 runs in 168 matches, said Vaughan's performance both as batsman and captain would be crucial.

"The class batsman in the English line-up is their captain," he said.

"He will need to score 500-plus runs to lead the younger, inexperienced players and allow himself the luxury of making clear decisions with a confident frame of mind in the delicate moments of a game."

Waugh said "individual brilliance" could play a significant role in deciding the outcome of the Ashes since both England and Australia look formidable and "difficult to break down".

He said England must wrest the early initiative if they hope to end the drought against world champions Australia who had "at least half-a-dozen" match-winners.

Waugh said that Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist was the man to watch out for.

"The standout is Gilchrist, who has single-handedly influenced more matches in the modern era than any other player," he said.