England left for Australia today charged with the serious business of trying to win the Ashes Down Under for the first time in 23 years but it seems some of the squad have been playing for laughs.
This picture, released by the ECB this morning, showed the party all smiles as they gathered at Lord's with Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott making a cheeky addition to their sober attire - stripey socks.
Graeme Swann has never been slow to enjoy a joke and joined the fun on Twitter ahead of the squad's arrival at Heathrow today.
The spinner, who reckoned on Wednesday he had lost his passport, tweeted: "Oh dear. I thought we had a six week sea voyage ahead of us. Have packed boat shoes, tuxedo, chess board etc. Turns out we're flying."
England have a 24-hour flight ahead of them before arriving in Perth, where they start their tour with a warm-up match against Western Australia a week today.
The Ashes battle begins at the Gabba, in Brisbane, on 25 November and captain Andrew Strauss can't wait. He said: "I've got a lot on my shoulders but I'm excited about that; I feel well prepared for it."
