Easier route for England

England's cricketers will be relieved that their route to the first Ashes series of the year has been unspectacular, at least compared with Australia's.

Alastair Cook's team had an up and down winter. The highs came as England won in India for the first time since the mid-1980s, fighting back from defeat in the first Test to clinch the series 2-1. The lows were the product of the trip to New Zealand, when the team could only manage an uninspiring drawn series against a team stranded close to the bottom of the Test rankings.

England's victory in the return leg will have settled a few butterflies and put the team in good heart for the main business of the summer.