James Anderson and Ollie Robinson have been dominated out of England's first Test of the summer time, towards Ireland at Lord's from Thursday, however in accordance with Brendon McCullum, each are heading in the right direction for full health come the beginning of the Ashes at Edgbaston, starting June 16.

"We've got a couple of niggles, so we're just monitoring those at the moment," McCullum instructed Sky Sports. "Every team that goes into a series has got a couple of little things that you need to work through, but we're pretty confident we'll have a good squad to be able to pick from.

"For the primary Ashes Test, I believe [Anderson and Robinson] needs to be match. They will not be match for this one towards Ireland. We'll simply have to observe it over this subsequent kind of whereas, however we have some nice choices proper all through the squad.

"Stokesy is progressing well too," he added. "He looks really fit as well, looks in great order and has a big smile on his face. He is delighted to be back around the group and as our leader, having that sort of energy he brings is fantastic, so again we'll monitor that and see what happens.

"I believe he'll bowl at some stage all through the summer time, yeah, little question. He is a world-class allrounder and if he is ready to bowl, implausible. If not, we'll discover a approach.

"Who knows if we are going to win this summer but we're going to go into it with the right attitude, the right environment, and the right team which believes it's got a chance"

Brendon McCullum

"When I first took over this job, people said there weren't much depth in English cricket and I disagree with that completely," McCullum added. "I think there is an immense amount of depth. There's no point being concerned. You just deal with what you've got and play the cards you are handed. I am confident we will have a good squad to pick from right throughout the summer, and we'll see how we go."

England come into the season with their status reworked within the 12 months since McCullum and Stokes took over in a brand new coach/captain partnership. They have gained ten of their 12 Tests in that interval, whereas their most up-to-date outing was a unprecedented one-run loss towards New Zealand in Wellington in February, a outcome that strengthened the "no-fear" model of cricket that the workforce has embraced within the interim.

And although the fast problem shall be to beat an Ireland workforce that rolled England apart for 85 of their final look at Lord's in 2019, McCullum acknowledged that the Ashes is already looming giant within the workforce's ideas.

"It's been a great year, this will be a big summer," McCullum mentioned. "There will be a lot of eyeballs on us, not just in the UK but also around the world, and that's what you want to be involved in. Who knows if we are going to win this summer but we're going to go into it with the right attitude, the right environment, and the right team which believes it's got a chance.

Ben Stokes did not bowl during England's practice session at Lord's•Getty Images

"We're a workforce that is aware of how we need to play now, and we're not afraid to lose, which is kind of a exceptional trait, and that is led by the skipper and among the senior gamers as nicely. If we do play how we need to play, we give ourselves the perfect alternative and we have the expertise to place world-class groups beneath strain."

As for whether England will be able to play their new liberated brand of cricket against a team of Australia's talent, and in the full glare of an Ashes summer, McCullum was phlegmatic about the qualities within the team set-up.

"Look, Australia is an excellent line-up, proper? They have world-class bowlers and have been an excellent workforce for a protracted time frame. They'll be a formidable problem for us, however it's a problem we're actually trying ahead to," he said. "It is what you need to play sport for, proper? You need to be taking part in towards the perfect, within the greatest sequence and on the largest stage, and there's no higher alternative than what lies in entrance of us within the subsequent six to eight weeks.

"From our point of view, we don't go in to it prescribed with our method, it is about trying to ensure we are nice and free of mind, and being able to live in the present and deal with what comes our way. If it is a high-scoring rate, great. If it's not, that's great too. We'll just see what happens."

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket