Lancashire's James Anderson looks ahead to the First Ashes Test in Brisbane

Lancashire pace bowler James Anderson is invoking the spirit of 2010/11 as Alastair Cook's England set out to make Ashes history this winter.

There are only three days to go before the first Test in Brisbane, and Anderson is well aware morale-boosting memories of England's success in Australia three years ago can help spur the tourists on towards a fourth consecutive Ashes series triumph.

That, famously, has not been achieved by England since the late 1800s and the days of WG Grace.

No-one needs to tell Anderson the scale of the achievement which may soon be within England's grasp, or the positive influence he and other senior players can have.

He said: "The guys who have been here before, our job now is to try to pass that on to those who haven't played out here before - and try to make them as relaxed as possible going into that first Test.

"We definitely try to remember the positive things, certainly here at The Gabba - and each ground we played at."

England looked down and out here three years ago - until Cook, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott produced a remarkable second-innings rearguard to close out an unlikely yet ultimately very comfortable stalemate.

"We've played some decent cricket over the last 12 to 18 months,'' he said.

"One thing we're excited by is the fact we didn't play our best in England against Australia, but still ended up winning 3-0.

"We're very optimistic we are going to play better cricket than we did in England. We know we're going to have to... to actually have a chance of winning this series."

As rain continues to threaten, predictions of a greentop pitch are rife. Anderson, however, is not getting carried away.

"That sounds great to me," he said.

"If the conditions are like that on Thursday, I'll be over the moon.''