'We will win the series...': Recently-retired England star expresses confidence in Ben Stokes & Co, backs them to win The Ashes

Former England cricketer Chris Woakes feels that the side led by Ben Stokes does have a great chance of beating Australia in the upcoming Ashes series. Though it certainly won't be a walk in the park, Woakes is confident that England do have the quality to defeat their arch-rivals away from home.

England's abysmal record in Australia

Notably, the Three Lions are yet to win a Test in Australia since 2011. They had won Ashes 2010/11 by 3-1, but since then haven't been able to cause much problems for the Aussies and have failed to record any win for 14 years now. They will certainly be looking to put the painful past behind them and script history in the upcoming series.

"England's chances are high. I really think we've got a great chance of winning - and we will win the series. Winning Down Under is hard; it's not going to be straightforward. But the squad we've built over the last few years has a great opportunity to go there and deliver," Woakes told Sky Sports News.

"We've worked hard together for a while and reaped the rewards of being a consistent group. Now comes the ultimate test - to win in Australia," he added.

England and Australia on WTC points table

Both England and Australia have had contrasting starts to the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. While Ben Stokes & Co. drew their home series against India by 2-2, the Baggy Greens went on to complete a series sweep over West Indies by 3-0. That is why they currently sit at the top of the WTC standings with a perfect win record while England are on the sixth place with a PCT of 43.33. The upcoming five-match Ashes series may lead to significant changes on the points table.

The first Ashes test is set to commence from November 21 at the Optus stadium in Perth. Both teams will be looking to make a strong start to the series and it remains to be seen as to who will eventually come out on top.

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England's squad for The Ashes: Ben Stokes (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Mark Wood.

Australia's squad for 1st Ashes Test: Steven Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster.