England head to Australia for Ashes
Published:Friday | October 29, 2010 | 1:09 PM
England's cricketers are now travelling to Australia to begin their defence of the Ashes they won on home soil in 2009.
The 16-man squad left Heathrow Airport earlier today for the five-match series against their fiercest rivals.
England have not won a Test series down under since the 1986 to 87 series and they lost 5-0 on their most recent visit in 2006 to 2007.
However, Andrew Strauss's side arrive ranked fourth in the world, while Ricky Ponting's Australia are fifth and have lost their last three Tests.
Ahead of the flight, Strauss urged his players to be more confrontational than they were in 2006.
They will land in Perth tomorrow morning and the tour starts on November 5 with a match against Western Australia.