Joe Root says he will relish the chance to deliver for England and focus purely on playing in his first Ashes series in eight years without the captaincy.
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England made it 11 wins in 13 Tests under the leadership of skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum with a 10-wicket victory over Ireland at Lord's on Saturday.
All eyes now turn to the Ashes opener on June 16 and Root, who was man of the series on home soil in 2015 with 460 runs, is excited after leading England during the last three red-ball battles with Australia.
"It's going to be nice, yeah," the Yorkshireman said.
"It's going to be nice to just go and play the game and try and assist where I can for Ben and for the other guys around, play a slightly different senior role in the team.
"They're always great fun to be a part of, these big games, big series. They're the ones you want to stand up and play well in and it's an opportunity to do that again.
"I think my batting has been fine for a while, but, mentally, to be able to just turn up and play and have fun, just chat batting with some of the younger guys.
"Obviously I'll try and help out where I can but Ben knows what he's doing.
"He's got enough behind him now to give himself the encouragement and confidence to make those big calls on his own, as you'd expect him to anyway. He's doing a far better job than I did."
Root's own preparation for this monumental series had been far from ideal before his 56 against Ireland.
The Yorkshire batter decided against playing county championship cricket during April and May after he secured a first Indian Premier League contract, but Rajasthan Royals only selected him on three occasions and he batted just once in the tournament.
Nevertheless, the 32-year-old was philosophical about his experience in India.
"Championship cricket is the bedrock of our domestic game and I am not trying to bag it with what I say here," Root explained.
"I am not saying it's not important or a good standard. For where I am in my career, am I going to learn more about myself in that environment?
"Am I really going to be prepared better for an Ashes series facing lower pace bowling on some nibbly wickets when hopefully we will play on good pitches against high pace and a high quality spinner? I don't think so.
"By learning and experiencing something new, discussing the game with greats like Kumar Sangakkara and Brian Lara, I thought that not just for the Ashes, but the rest of the year it would set me up best to get the best out of myself. I feel ready."
Australian Associated Press
