England “don’t have as many scars” as in previous years as they head into the Ashes, says spinner Charlie Dean.
Heather Knight’s side are looking for a first Ashes win since 2014, having drawn a thrilling encounter in the home summer of 2023 which included famous triumphs in both white-ball legs of the multi-format series.
Dean added that England will take plenty of confidence from that effort as they go into Saturday’s opening one-day international, in contrast to the previous away tour in 2022 where they did not win a game.
“Going back to the last trip here, I was very new to the international scene and I was quite daunted by the prospect of playing Australia,” Dean said.
“I don’t know if the rest of the group was, but I felt that way a bit. So I think this time around, we’re a bit more experienced.
“We’ve lost a few players along the way but it does feel like we don’t have as many scars in the group from previous series. Big challenges bring opportunities for success and the home Ashes summer has given us a lot of positivity around what we know we can do.”
Both England and Australia are in decent form going into the series, with preceding series wins against South Africa and India respectively following their disappointing T20 World Cup campaigns in the autumn.
Dean also credited the increasing amount of franchise cricket around the world in helping to lessen the intimidation that comes with taking on Australia on their home soil, with players regularly switching from team-mates to opponents between tournaments.
“That brings quite a nice edge to it, you can be friends off the pitch but when it comes down to it, the white-line fever comes and you will do whatever it takes to win a game for your country,” she said.
“But it does bring some familiarity, it doesn’t seem so intimidating any more, which is an interesting dynamic to balance.”
England’s only warm-up match before the series starts on 11 January (23:30 GMT) was cut short by rain at the North Sydney Oval, with only 28.2 overs bowled against the Australian Governor General’s XI.
The series consists of three one-day internationals, three T20s and a four-day Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
