The Ashes: Top order key to England's hope of four in a row

Sir Ian Botham, perhaps emboldened by a successful fishing trip to Scot-land, has predicted an England whitewash this winter. It is a brave claim yet Alastair Cook's side can beat Austra-lia by a much slimmer margin and still do better than the England teams Botham played for by claiming their fourth successive Ashes victory. Botham was on an Ashes-winning side five times but only three of them were in a row.

Cook's team, who head for Perth today following the conclusion of their boot camp in the Midlands, can improve on that this winter and in doing so achieve the kind of monopoly England last -managed in the late 19th century, when they had custody of the urn for eight successive series. Cook's side set off as favourites too (William Hill has them 10/11 following the 3-0 victory in England), and that has not occurred on Australian soil since the Kerry Packer era when, in 1978-79, the home side were even more depleted than the tourists.

England also travel contented after the conclusion of 11 central contracts, including one for Joe Root, something that was not in place last time they won in Australia. Confidence among the players is high, too, but that can be a fragile commodity among sportsmen. Cook and his team, aware that they won in the summer without reaching the consistency of worthy champions, appear to have convinced themselves that a 20 per cent hike in performance will be enough for victory. But if there is one place capable of -sapping confidence quickly it is Australia, especially if England's habit of starting slowly gives the hosts early optimism.

The signs are that England have prepared in some areas but not others. Their boot camp, somewhere not far from Stoke, and used primarily as a team-building exercise judging from the few tweets that escaped the cordon thrown around it, was organised over the last weekend that players could have spent with their families. Perhaps it was a deliberate ploy to wind them up. If so, the first exchanges could be interesting, providing the state sides can drum up some opposition worthy of the name.

Aggression seems to be a major plank of England's plan judging by their selection of three giant fast -bowlers: Steven Finn, Chris Tremlett and Boyd Rankin. With room for only one of them in the Test teams, unless injury should strike James Anderson or Stuart Broad, you wonder if their presence is partly to discourage the hosts from producing the quick, bouncy pitches promised by Darren Lehmann, Australia's head coach, during one of his many low moments during the last series. But if picking three lofty quicks does seem like overkill, Andy Flower is rarely gratuitous without good reason. Where England could struggle is if another trio, the top three batsmen, fail to free themselves from the straitjacket placed around them by Australia's bowlers who, if fit, will be a match for England in the pace department.

Top-order batsmen and fast bowlers tend to win Ashes series in Australia, but while England possess quality and quantity in the latter, Cook, Root and Jonathan Trott have plenty to prove on recent form. Although expertly shackled by Ryan Harris last summer, you feel that Cook is too good not to find a solution to Australia's plan of dragging him across his crease by bowling full and wide then skewering him lbw with the straight one. He scored a remarkable 766 Test runs at an average of 127 last time in Australia, though the Aussie -bowlers were strangely timid in that series. They will not be this time, under -Lehmann, with Harris, pro-viding he can conquer his numerous niggles, the likely spearhead. Harris and Peter Siddle will fancy reprising the problems they caused Root and Trott.

Root, with his youthful zest and optimism, will be confident of finding ways to counter the plots set against him, which are similar to those employed against his captain, who was limited to a highest score of 62 in the summer. If Root fails, Michael Carberry, so keen to sample proper Test cricket, will suddenly discover what pressure is. Trott's travails are different, being against the short ball. Not only can all Michael Clarke's pacemen -trouble him with that but if they pick Mitchell Johnson, Australia will have someone who can propel it down more rapidly and more challengingly than any of the others. He has been bowling superbly in one-day cricket, as Trott can attest, but since England's triumph in 2010-11, he has been injured or out of favour, playing just nine of 29 Tests since.

It will be interesting to see if the selectors trust him to bring his white-ball form into the red. If he does play and is successful, much of England's fortunes will rest upon Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell, along with either Jonny Bairstow or Gary Ballance. Bell's batting reached its apotheosis in the summer, with three centuries in five Tests, but he cannot be expected to deliver every time England find themselves in bother. Interestingly, although Pieter-sen sat in Bell's shadow most of the summer he also brought another dimension to his game by batting selflessly.

One area where England have marked superiority is spin with Graeme Swann far more effective than Nathan Lyon, though that advantage may not persist for much longer, as there is talk of Swann retiring at the end of the series. There are also rumours about Andy Flower stepping down too, which if true would give the series the -feeling of a last hurrah for some of the main architects of England's success these past four years. If beating the old enemy was not motivation enough, then doing it for them should make up any shortfall.