Flintoff to control Ashes fever

The England team arrive in Sydney after their Virgin flight

England captain Andrew Flintoff is ready to put an end to the hype and lead his team out for the first Ashes Test in Brisbane.

The England squad arrived in Sydney on Sunday to begin preparations for one of the most highly-anticipated Ashes series in recent memory.

Flintoff was man-of-the-series last year when England stunned Australia by reclaiming the Ashes after an 18-year wait.

With Michael Vaughan recovering from injury, Flintoff now goes into his first tour of Australia as skipper, and the Lancashire all-rounder cannot wait to get things started.

"The hype surrounding it has been going on for a long time," he said.

"Myself and the team are very excited to finally arrive in Australia, it's going to be huge.

"Hopefully it's going to be a fantastic series and it's one that we want to get underway, to stop the hype and just start playing out on the field.

"It's going to be a tough winter but hopefully one of the most enjoyable ones we could have."

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Despite their memorable win last year, England are seen as outsiders with Australia playing on home soil.

However, Flintoff insists his side are focused on the job in hand and is confident they will be able to compete in Australia.

"There's a lot of media attention and a lot of outside influences, but the one thing we can do is control how we prepare going into the first Test match," he said.

"We've worked hard and we're going to work hard over the next few weeks.

"Outside influences don't really concern me. What does [concern me] is the state of mind the players are in on my team.

"I'm pleased with that and I'm pleased with the squad I've got, so we can't let all those things bother us."

He added: "There'll be no added pressure put on our shoulders from within the side.

"We're just going to concentrate on what we want to do and how we're going to play our cricket. As for everything else, we'll just ride with that and make sure our cricket's right.

"We've just got to go in there, prepare, and go into that first Test match confident and looking forward to what's going to be a huge challenge."

England begin the tour with a one-day game against a Prime Minister's XI in Canberra on Friday.

They then have three-day games against New South Wales and South Australia before the first Test starts in Brisbane on November 23.