5 England players to watch out for in the Ashes

#5 Joe Root

Root's performance both as batsman and captain will be under scrutiny

England's young captain and currently most prolific batsman across all formats will hold the key to the team's performance against its arch-enemy.

With Root's batting reaching new heights with every series, nothing short of excellence is to be expected from him in the Ashes. As a batsman, there is an unusual ease with which he goes about his job, scoring runs without batting an eyelid.

Aussie skipper Steven Smith has more experience as captain than Root does. Root has had a bittersweet captaincy, with a mixed bag of wins and losses - something that a win in first his Ashes as captain will set right.