For the first 20 years of his life, England batsman Joe Root didn’t particularly like what he saw when his heroes did Ashes battle in Australia.
Root wasn’t even born when England secured a 2-1 series triumph in Australia in 1987 to retain the urn.
It would be 24 years before England repeated the feat.
In between, the nation’s next generation of cricketers grew up expecting Ashes failure in Australia.
England’s 5-0 hammering during their 2006-07 tour Down Under was particularly disheartening.
The mountain to Ashes success in enemy territory seemed too high to climb.
But that mentality was flipped on its head three years ago, when England finally broke the spell with a 3-1 series triumph.
Now, Australia holds no fears for England’s cricketers.
England have won the past three Ashes series, and the players are brimming with confidence ahead of this summer’s showdown, which gets under way at the Gabba on November 21.
Root never had much to cheer about growing up when he watched England do battle with Australia.
But he wants the next generation to have more to celebrate.
“Generally it wasn’t very good watching for an Englishman back home,” Root said.
“But hopefully we can get another win under our belts this series and take it from there.
“I think it would be wrong to look too much into the last series.
“This is a completely different one and we want to make sure that we don’t take anything for granted.
“We want to come into the series working hard and respecting the opposition.
“Australia are a good side and we are going to have to play well to win the series.”
England will start as favourites to secure a fourth Ashes series victory.
Root was part of the team that beat Australia 3-0 in August, with his highlight coming in the fourth Test at Lord’s when he made 180.
The 22-year-old averaged 37.66 for the series, and he hopes he can improve his output this summer.
England hit the WACA Ground nets on Sunday, and will have three more days to train before taking on a Western Australia second XI in a three-day tour match, starting on Thursday.
