England's thrilling performances in the ODI series with New Zealand have reignited fans' optimism and could act as a springboard for success in the upcoming Ashes series.
With incoming coach Trevor Bayliss set to arrive from Sydney - less than a fortnight before the series begins at The SSE SWALEC on July 8 - England announced a 14-man squad for a pre-Ashes training camp squad on Thursday.
And director of England Cricket Andrew Strauss said the training camp will also be vital in preparing the squad for the Ashes.
Strauss said: Trevor, Alastair and I felt it important that both players and management who are likely to be involved in the early stages of the Ashes should have a chance to meet Trevor and fully understand his approach prior to meeting up for the start of the series.
The spectacular one-day wins under the stewardship of Eoin Morgan and Paul Farbrace have ensured England will go into the first test at Cardiff with momentum, with Strauss hoping Bayliss' arrival will further boost morale.
Australia began their preparations for the series with a squad match on the Isle of Wight on Thursday. The game featured opening batsman Chris Rogers, who missed their 2-0 series in the West Indies last month with concussion.
The Australian left-arm duo of Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson have been earmarked as dangermen for the Ashes and the inclusion of Derbyshire left-armer Mark Footitt in the training squad shows England's willingness to find a left-arm option of their own.
Footitt's inclusion was praised by Derbyshire head coach Graeme Welch, who said: Mark has bowled some spells in the last two seasons that have been seriously scary. He hit six or seven batsmen on the head last season.
I played with Allan Donald at Warwickshire and Mark has looked as quick as him in county cricket at times.
Northants left-arm all-rounder David Willey has featured in the ODI series with New Zealand and 21-year-old Essex paceman Rhys Topley is in the squad for the iT20 to face New Zealand.
Tickets for Day 5 of the first Ashes test and the iT20 versus Australia are still available:
https://www.glamorgancricket.com/tickets/index.php#.VYQfwab1fZs