Flintoff is crucial to England's chances of holding on to the Ashes

Flintoff returned for his country in the Champions Trophy in October, four months after undergoing ankle surgery.

But speaking before the 2130 GMT flight to Australia he said: "The chance to play again was invaluable.

"We have two three-day warm-up games before the first Test and that will be perfect. By the time we get to Brisbane we'll hit the ground running."

Interview: England captain Andrew Flintoff

The tour starts with a one-day game against an Australian Prime Minister's XI at Canberra on 10 November.

It will be followed by matches against New South Wales and South Australia before the main business of the first Test in Brisbane, which begins on 23 November.

England won an Ashes series for the first time in 18 years in 2005 in what many have called the greatest Test series in the history of the game.

Hopefully we can do something special and create a buzz about cricket again over the next few weeks Andrew Flintoff

Flintoff played a huge part in their 2-1 success, scoring more than 400 runs and taking 24 wickets.

This time he has the added responsibility of leading the side in the absence of Michael Vaughan, who is still working to regain full fitness after knee surgery.

The Lancashire star is not sure whether this year's contests will emulate last year's dramatic games but is determined to recreate the euphoria which surrounded their achievements.

"In England each Test match got bigger and bigger and we got a real feeling of what the Ashes was about," he enthused.

"We've been looking forward to this for a long time. It's something you dream about.

"Hopefully we can do something special and create a buzz about cricket again over the next few weeks."

606: DEBATE I'd say England are slight favourites to retain the Ashes bathcricket 606: Have your say

Flintoff's squad contains several youngsters with no experience of Ashes contests, such as Alastair Cook, Monty Panesar, Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood.

But the 28-year-old says they are relishing the chance to take on the world champions on their own turf.

"It's going to be tough but having the chance to go to Australia to compete against the best side in the world is something the lads are very excited about," he added.

"We'll go there confident, with a young and talented side looking forward to testing their wits against Australia in Australia.

"This is the reason we play the game - we're going over to play in what could be the biggest series ever.