5 England players to watch out for in the Ashes

As England gears up to take on its long-time rival Australia in the Ashes 2017-18, let's look at the key players on the English side.

#1 Alastair Cook

The former England captain will be returning Down Under with no burden of captaincy and a mindset to make amends for his last horrendous tour of Australia (where he scored just 246 runs at an average of 24.6).

England's highest run-scorer in this format still has a very compact defense, as well as the right blend of technique, temperament, and experience to be a thorn in the side of the Australians.

He captained England for a long time, and will likely be seen giving valuable inputs to current captain Joe Root and the youngsters playing their first Ashes.

#2 James Anderson

Anderson's pace has slowed down, and he will be relying on swing rather than bounce

The "King of Swing" is one of the most lethal bowlers of all time - with 500+ wickets, tons of experience in these conditions, and the ability to swing the ball both ways, it will be a challenge for Australian batsman to counter him.

Anderson is the No. 1 bowler in the world in Test cricket, and his partnership with Stuart Broad has been the downfall for many a batsman. He has an uncanny ability to reverse the old ball, something he said he learnt from Zaheer Khan.

With a menacing arsenal at his disposal, he will surely trouble the Australian batsman, and his partnership with Stuart Broad could well decide the fate of this Ashes.

#3 Stuart Broad

Broad's partnership with Anderson will be vital to England's success

The only other English bowler in the Top 10 is Stuart Broad, a ranking he does full justice to. Although not as proficient as Anderson with his swing, Broad will look at different options to dismiss the Australian batsman. With his optimal height, he might be able to extract some extra bounce from the Australian pitches.

He decimated the Australians with his career-best 8-15 at Nottingham two years ago, and could be the troublemaker for this Australian side that is looking to regain the Ashes.

#4 Moeen Ali

Ali is a capable all-rounder

With England's prime all-rounder Ben Stokes missing in action, the onus will be on Moeen Ali to deliver. Capable of doing so with both bat and ball, he will be looking to treat this series as a chance to establish himself as a quality all-rounder in Tests. The Aussies should be wary of his ability to pick up wickets with seemingly innocuous deliveries.

The problem that he faces as a batsman is against short deliveries, something the opposition has targeted quite often.

However, being in good form and having a great opportunity to establish himself in Test cricket, Ali will be looking forward to his first Ashes Down Under.

#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.