Alastair Cook is confident he and his England team are as ready as they will ever be for one of the biggest tests of their professional lives.

Cook’s task is to ensure that not just he but the XI chosen for today’s first of 10 Tests against Australia over the next six months demonstrate they can collectively handle the Ashes hype.

He warns they do not merely need to do justice to their talents but excel themselves if they are to vindicate the favourites’ tag for the first instalment, the Investec series on home soil.

It is essential too that Cook leads from the front with runs at the top of the order, in company with rookie Test opener Joe Root – with the power to add from Kevin Pietersen et al.

Cook’s own CV screamed future England captain, until the day he replaced the retiring Andrew Strauss at the end of last summer – and much he has done suggests he is the right man to continue the winning Ashes run.

“I think I’m ready,” he said. “I have played quite a lot of cricket now, so I feel pretty experienced – and as a captain as well, I think I have grown into it.

“I have got a huge amount of learning still to do, because I think the only time you really do learn is out there in those situations.

“We have handled these situations before, so I don’t see any reason why we can’t now.”