Ben Duckett believes England will start the Ashes series without much "baggage" and said that the team's aggressive approach to Test cricket is evolving beyond what has sometimes been perceived as reckless.
Duckett is one of 11 players in England's squad who have yet to play Test cricket in Australia while the average age is 28 compared to the home side's 33. The players have been greeted in Perth by a series of comical headlines from the local newspaper but Duckett said they have been warmly welcomed.
"This group we've got, I actually saw the other day I'm the fourth oldest, which was tough to see," Duckett told the Willow Talk podcast. "So we've got quite a fresh group coming here where there's not a lot of baggage, which I think will help us."
Since his Test recall in 2022, Duckett is the leading run-scorer among openers. In the 2023 Ashes he made 321 runs at 35.66. "I'm looking forward to the challenge," he said. "You know how tough it is for touring sides coming over here. I'm not expecting or setting myself any targets. I know I'm opening the batting against probably the best bowling attack in the world in their home conditions."
For the first Test, at least, that attack will be missing Pat Cummins as he continues to recover from a lumbar stress injury. There remains hope he will be available for the second Test and went through another solid workout at the SCG on Tuesday.
"You want to play against the best and you don't want to have guys like that missing out in series like this," Duckett said. "But on the flip side, I'm an opening batter and he's probably one of the best bowlers in the world. So yeah, quietly, I hope it's not too bad but obviously any game where he's not playing is an advantage for us."
Much of the pre-series narrative is around how Bazball will go in Australian conditions, but Duckett said that both individually and collectively their approach was becoming more nuanced.
"I think now it's definitely about reading moments," he said. "[Brendon McCullum] will come up to me and say, now you're a better player than just getting 40 off 30 and getting us off to a good start.
"There's moments as an opening batsman, for example, it could be at Perth in a few weeks where we've got five overs to see at the end of the day. And I did it against India last summer where actually just get through it. I don't care how many runs you've got, just be there in the morning.
"I think that's where we're trying to go as a team now, it's not just being this entertaining, reckless at times, side. And it's something that I've got frustrated with myself in the past, where I might have got 80 off 60 and it looks great and stuff, but they're going to put my side in a good position. So it's realising moments and doing that and then kicking on and getting a big score. And I think that's where we're really wanting to go as a side now."
Duckett termed captain Ben Stokes "probably the most important man" in the team and had been taken aback by the intensity of his training. "I can only say we've been out here for a few days and he's been in beast mode," he said. "He has been running, bowling two spells, batting for two hours. The way he trains and stuff these days is something that I've never seen before.
"He's obviously probably the most important man in this side when he's bowling. So hopefully he stays fit for all five tests and he's bowling in all of them because he's crucial for us."