We can cause Australia problems - Strauss

Andrew Strauss believes it is time to "start walking and stop talking", as England and Australia enter the final straight ahead of Thursday's Ashes opener at Brisbane. Speaking at the team's first training session since arriving in Queensland, Strauss cut a relaxed air as he assessed the challenge that awaits, and dismissed any notion that, as Ashes holders, England would be burdened by the weight of added expectation.

"I think before the last series [in 2005] we had something to prove, but we don't feel that now," said Strauss. "We'll go in there with our heads held high, knowing that if we play the sort of cricket that we can play, we can cause Australia problems. That's a fantastic level of confidence to have going into a series.

"Australia are desperate to get their hands on the Ashes again," he added. "They are the No 1 team in the world and so, if anything, the pressure is on them to grab [the Ashes] back off us. We've got a hell of a lot of good memories from the last Ashes series to fall back on. I think we came across a way of beating Australia in England, and we're going to give all we've got for the next seven weeks."

Beating Australia in England is one thing. Beating them on home turf is something else entirely, especially with a team so lacking in experience of Australian conditions. If, on Thursday, Ashley Giles is omitted in favour of Monty Panesar, then none of England's first-choice top eight will have featured in a Test Down Under.

Strauss, however, was unfazed. "I've always said I'd rather have bad memories instead of no memories. This is a blank canvas for us. We've played abroad before and did well in South Africa, which is not hugely different to Australia. It's not a massive factor. It would be nice to have scored hundreds at all these grounds before, but hopefully that'll happen next time we tour."

Strauss has been one of England's most consistent batsmen on the tour so far, and has good reason to recall his time in South Africa. In five Tests on that trip in 2004-05, he scored 656 runs, including three hundreds, utilising the extra bounce in the southern hemisphere to cash in through his back-foot game. "I enjoyed the wickets in South Africa," he confirmed, "and I'm excited about this series. I'm hopeful and confident of contributing."

He'll need to contribute with more than just the bat. As England's Test captain for the bulk of last summer, Strauss will need to be Andrew Flintoff's closest ally when the action gets underway on Thursday, especially now that England's other senior batsman, Marcus Trescothick, has flown home early. "I'm expecting Fred to ask my opinion in the next few days and I'm more than happy to give it," Strauss confirmed. "For the senior players it's a big responsibility. We know from previous Ashes series we've got to stick together. It's one-in all-in."

As Shane Warne pointed out on Monday, Trescothick's absence will be felt just as keenly in the slip cordon, and Strauss admitted that there had been a slight upheaval behind the stumps since his departure. "We've had to do a bit of rejigging," he said, having now moved himself to Trescothick's old position at first slip, with Paul Collingwood coming in at third. "The catches come at a slightly different pace [out here], and it's important to get used to how far back to stand, and how close to Ready or Jonesy. It takes a bit of time to get that going."

In the aftermath of the last Ashes, many Australian critics felt that their team had been too matey with the opposition, but Strauss laughed at such a notion. "Nothing I experienced out in the middle was friendly at all!" he joked. "But off the field, both teams appreciated spending time after the games chewing the fat, and treating cricket the way it should be treated. It's a hard game on the pitch, but it is still a game. At the end of your career, you want to remember the characters involved, not the games, and that's as it should be."

For England, it's time to put the past year behind them. Their woeful showing in one-day cricket and their hit-and-miss performances against Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka now count for nothing, now that the one series that counts above all others is upon them. "I think at times it probably didn't help us focus on the games we had in hand," Strauss admitted of the year-long Ashes hype that has tracked their every movement. "Our minds were always drifting off. But now it's here, and it's a lot easier to focus on one day at a time.

"There are a million reasons why an Ashes series is special," he added. "The history is massive, and then there's the way both countries embrace it, and the fact that it's the top two teams in the world. There is not a more competitive series out there. We are licking our lips, and can't wait to get out there. We got a taste for it in England, and this will be similar."