Joe Root, England's No.1 ranked Test batter, heads into his fourth Ashes series in Australia on Friday knowing that his wicket once again will be considered the greatest prize for the hosts' bowling attack.
However, despite a spate of "Average Joe" jibes in the local media - reflecting his relative lack of success on Australia soil, where he has yet to make a Test hundred - Root says he remains phlegmatic about his role within the team, adding the tour is "not about me, it's about us collectively".
"I just feel again it's my job in this team to score as many runs as I can and affect games for England in a positive manner with the bat," Root told TNT Sports on the eve of the first Test in Perth. "I think more than anything it's just enjoying every game, and get to grips with the surface, and try to get on top of the opposition when the chances arise."
Root resigned from the England captaincy back in 2022, a few months after leading England to their second consecutive 4-0 series loss in Australia. Now, he is back in the ranks, under the leadership of Ben Stokes, and ready to put the struggles of his previous visits - including the strictures of lockdown on the 2021-22 tour - behind him.
"Every time I go out there, I'll try and have the same approach, and coming here in a different capacity - four more years' experience, no responsibility of captaincy, no Covid distractions or any other things to contend with - alongside trying to be a good senior player and making sure that I'm as ready as I can be with bat in hand.
"This tour is not about me; it's about us collectively doing something special as a group of players. It's about building those big partnerships that set games up and that can hopefully chase down targets. I know that if I play in the manner that I have done in the past couple of years I can give myself a good chance of getting in strong positions with the bat and we will see where that leads to."
England arrive with a changed approach, thanks to so-called Bazball mentality of Stokes and Brendon McCullum, and with a bowling attack stacked with 90mph/145kph bowlers, including Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, who could be set to play a Test together for the first time since 2020.
"We've got some different tools to hit them with, especially with the ball," Root said. "More pace, bounce and variety within our attack which is really important in these conditions, especially if it gets quite placid at times and it doesn't move around as much.
"The fact we've got different options to go to will work really well. We've got quite a settled batting line-up which we didn't have on the previous two tours, so the fact that guys are really comfortable and understand what their role is within the team, it's nice to have that clarity going into the series, and hopefully that can bring the best out of us as a group."