England's Super Six Will Need To Deliver

Peter Hayter focuses on the main protagonists who must turn on the style if England are to exact Ashes revenge this winter

From the moment England announce their squad for the mission to wipe out the memories of one of the most relentlessly grim experiences in their Ashes history, the performance of every single member will be under the closest scrutiny.

But six of England’s best will have more than the others to prove, to gain and to lose.

They are the players returning to the scene of the battering they suffered there four winters ago, desperate to show to Australian audiences they deserve better than the scorn to which they were subjected last time when they barely landed a punch, and, once down, stayed down.

England’s chances of keeping a grip on the prize regained on home soil in 2015 will hinge on how well they succeed.

Joe Root admits that his first taste of the hostility Aussie crowds reserve for the poms “derailed” him.

In his recent book, whose title Bringing Home The Ashes he must hope will not come back to haunt him, he details just how much the barrackers among the 35,000 crammed into the ‘Gabba for most of the first Test got to the wide-eyed 22-year-old.

“I walked out to bat and the noise was something I’d never experienced before. All I could hear was blokes singing “Rooty is a w*****.

“It was almost too much for me, if I’m being honest. It took me completely by surprise and before I knew it I had played a massive drive and been caught at slip off the hometown hero (Mitchell) Johnson. The atmosphere had clearly spooked me and knocked my focus.”

I have news for the England captain; you ain’t heard nothing yet.

“I know that in Australia there will be people keen to wind me up, “Root says.

“There are a number of different things that I want to get better at and that is one that stands out.”