 Fletcher and Flintoff have a big team behind them |
England's Ashes success in 2005 was widely credited to the preparation put in by coach Duncan Fletcher and captain Michael Vaughan off the field. But they were backed up by a team of analysts, managers and assistant coaches each playing a key role.
From massages and ice baths to tailored menus and video analysis, they covered every base.
As England set off for Australia, BBC Sport looks at the support staff whose performance is vital if the team are to be at their best.
Former team scorer and baggage manager Malcolm Ashton once described Neale as "Mr Spreadsheet".
Ashton wrote: "I've seen him sit on a bus in the middle of winter, turn to Duncan and say: 'Edgbaston, June 14. When do you want to practise, morning or afternoon?"
A former Worcestershire batsman, Neale is responsible for all aspects of tour planning, setting up hotels and practice grounds well in advance.
On tour, he takes care of transport arrangements and liaises with local hosts over tiny details such as net bowlers, attendance at official functions and provision of kit.
As a former professional footballer with Lincoln City, he is also highly in demand when the players start their training sessions with a kick-about to warm up.
Glamorgan's captain when they won the County Championship under Fletcher in 1997, Maynard brings the experience of 21 first-class seasons to the team.
Maynard, 40, played just four Tests for England but his ability as a batting coach is widely recognised and he gives one-on-one coaching to batsmen when required.
He helps to run training and warm-up sessions and can often be seen wearing a baseball glove as he leads fielding drills.
During play, Maynard will watch batting from the dressing room, and feed back his observations either to Fletcher or individual players.
Troy Cooley's role as fast-bowling coach was seen as vital during the 2005 Ashes and his successor could be just as important.
Former Somerset coach Shine will certainly not be remodelling the actions of England's pacemen during the Test series but he will be on hand to offer tweaks here and there.
During an English summer, he divides his time between international matches and a programme that brings pace-bowling talent from age-group teams to the England fringes.
Another former Somerset coach, Garaway will undertake the job carried out by Tim Boon during the last Ashes series, with plenty of work to do before and during each match.
He is responsible for collecting as much footage as possible of each opponent and gives a video presentation of his findings before every international match.
During a game, he uses a laptop to digitally file video of every ball into a database according to the type of delivery and the batsman's response.
Rather than having letters, his laptop keyboard has symbols for every event in an attempt to make an intensive job a little easier.
If a batsman is dismissed he can return to the pavilion and, when he has calmed down, study every ball of his innings to find out what he did well and what went wrong.
Helping players overcome injuries and niggles is only part of the job for New Zealand-raised Russell, who is with England around every Test series.
Russell liaises with local hospitals and doctors when scans are required and also plays a role in injury prevention.
In particular he has done extensive research into orthotics - the supports players wear inside their boots - in an attempt to cut the number of foot injuries.
In his sixth year with the side, Stockhill is responsible for formulating and managing fitness programmes for the whole squad, especially the work they do in the gym.
He runs the pre-match warm-up and the post-play warm-down, and was responsible for introducing ice baths to the England dressing-room.
It is Stockhill who deals with hotels and ground authorities to make sure food is grilled, not fried, and served with pasta or rice.
Squad members not in the starting XI are often put through their paces by Stockhill during the lunch or tea break.
With a background in athletics, swimming, hockey, triathlon and gymnastics through the English Institute of Sport, Saxby describes his main task as "general maintenance".
Working closely with the medical team he helps players recover from injury and also helps prevent problems by spotting niggles early.
Bowlers are the most regular visitors to his table, often during intervals and at the end of each day's play.
On tour in India in 2002, Walpole received a call in his hotel room from a local journalist who wanted to know exactly what the players had eaten for dinner and whether they preferred pizza or curry.
During the Ashes, he expects to be issuing plenty of press releases, but no menus.
Walpole, who shares the job with James Avery, will travel with the team throughout the Ashes, dealing with day-to-day media issues.
That means organising player interviews, news conferences around matches and fielding specific requests from journalists.
With over 500 requests for media accreditation for this series, Walpole is ready to deal with a huge level of interest as England aim to retain the Ashes.
Peter Gregory
Chief medical officer |
Dr Peter Gregory, who became England's first chief medical officer in 2002, announced recently that he would step down from the role before the Ashes.
A long-term replacement has not yet been chosen but until a new man is nominated, England will have a team doctor with them in Australia.
The job of medical officer requires a longer-term view of player fitness, co-ordinating with specialists on specific injuries and making decisions on rehabilitation programmes.
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