Australians feeling right at home in London

As the tourists make themselves at home, the host nation prepares to head abroad as cricket's oldest rivals embrace markedly different preparations for an Ashes battle that resumes in less than three weeks.

The bulk of Australia's 18-man touring party has settled into their now familiar digs adjoining Hyde Park in London's fashionably frenetic inner-west, and are embracing a few free days after the confinement of crime-bedevilled Jamaica before formal training begins on the weekend.

The only absentees are veterans Chris Rogers and Ryan Harris as well as aspiring Test players Mitchell Marsh and Peter Nevill, all of whom are taking part in a low-key two-day hit-out on the Isle of Wight which is better known for hosting rock stars.

READ MORE: Ryno, Marsh, Nevill shine on Isle of Wight

The quartet's lack of competitive cricket during the recent fleeting visit to the Caribbean means their build-up to Australia's quest to win an Ashes series on British soil for the first time since 2001 has been augmented with some additional match practice.

The Qantas Tour of the British Isles will then officially kick off with a series of training sessions over coming days at the historic Merchant Taylors School, one of England's nine original public schools which boasts horror movie legend Boris Karloff among its famed alumni.

The Australians will then play four-day warm-up matches against county sides Kent (in Canterbury) and Essex (Chelmsford) before heading to Cardiff to finalise preparations for the opening Test that begins on July 8.

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Harris sends down a delivery on the Isle of Wight // IoW Cricket

By contrast, England's 14-man Test squad will pack up next Saturday and head to a secret destination in Spain – unlikely to be Benidorm or the Costa del Sol favoured by so many sun-seeking Brits – for an informal training camp largely designed to introduce new coach Trevor Bayliss to his charges.

The former NSW Blues and Sydney Sixers supremo arrives in the UK next Thursday to take up his appointment and his first order of business will be to take his team to the Continent two days later for the latest variation of the now-mandatory pre-Ashes training event.

Andrew Strauss, the former England captain recently appointed as the England and Wales Cricket Board's Director of Cricket, indicated it's unlikely to be as Spartan as the camp in Germany that former coach Andy Flower oversaw ahead of the team's 2010-11 tour to Australia.

In addition to a visit to the former World War II concentration camp at Dachau near Munich and abseiling exercises down cliff faces, that Bavarian boot camp to build mental toughness saw bowling spearhead James Anderson sustain a broken rib during a boxing session.

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Marsh, Rogers, Nevill and Harris have already started their tour // IoW Cricket

"Trevor (Bayliss), Alastair (Cook, England captain) and I felt it important that both players and management likely to be involved in the early stages of the Ashes have (the) chance to meet him (Bayliss) and fully understand his approach prior to meeting up for the start of the Test series," Strauss said.

"With that in mind, we have arranged a preparation camp in Spain.

"This will involve a combination of physical and fielding sessions and planning meetings in an informal environment in order to provide the best possible lead up to the first Test in Cardiff.

"The squad for the first Test will be announced within a few days of returning from the camp."

While the move to take England's top cricketers out of England at the height of the home season – the final ODI against New Zealand will be played at Chester-le-Street on Friday (7.30pm AEST) – has raised some eyebrows, it was met with a thumbs-up by several members of the Australia touring party.

"I can see the value in getting away from the distractions and the hype of England ahead of the Ashes and just focusing on what the new coach expects from his players," one Australian said.

"But it's also interesting to note that it means they effectively won't be playing any cricket between now and the first Test."

Indeed, the 14 players named for the training squad – which includes uncapped left-arm fast bowler Mark Footitt from Derbyshire – will return to the UK a week before the opening Test which will preclude them from the final round of county championship fixtures prior to the Ashes.

The Australians also noted with interest that allrounder Moeen Ali was the only spinner included in the squad for the training camp, with incumbent ODI leg-spinner Adil Rashid to return to domestic duties with Yorkshire after the weekend.

Since assuming the role of England's front-line spinner last northern summer, Moeen has taken 33 wickets at 32.60 from 11 Tests although he struggled to make an impact in the past two series against the West Indies in the Caribbean (six wickets at 34.66) and NZ at home (five at 50).

Australia's previous Ashes visit to the UK in 2013 was notable for the dry, spin-friendly pitches that were produced and which served to nullify the tourists' pace bowling strengths and proved a boon for England's offf-spinner Graeme Swann who was the series' leading wicket-taker with 26 at 29.03.

But with Swann now retired and working as a BBC radio commentator, the Australians are curious to observe the state of pitches that will be produced for the upcoming Tests at Sophia Gardens (Cardiff), Lord's, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge and The Oval.

While grassy, seaming wickets would play to England's strengths of its new-ball pairing of Anderson and a revitalised Stuart Broad, it would also bring a smile to the Australians who have five world-class quicks – Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle – vying for places in the Test XI.

And should groundsmen favour drier, spinner-friendly conditions the tourists also feel they are well served with the nation's most successful Test off-spinner Nathan Lyon showing good form in the Caribbean (eight wickets at 19.25) where he bowled especially well against left-handed batsmen.

With England's likely Test line-up containing seven left-handers (Cook, his opening partner Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance, Ben Stokes, Moeen, Broad and Anderson) spin could well prove a decisive element in a series that was initially expected to be a battle of the speedsters.

"No matter what sort of wickets get served up, we're pretty confident we've got the variety and quality of bowlers to make the most of them," one of the Australians said yesterday before heading out for a spot of shopping along fancy Kensington High Street.

For a touring team less than 72 hours after arriving in foreign climes, the Ashes holders are already feeling very much at home.

No one will get you closer to the Australian team's Ashes tour than cricket.com.au. We will stream matches live into Australia on all devices, including the Cricket Australia Live app – available on iTunes and Google Play – and will have a comprehensive news and video team on the ground at every match. You won't miss a thing!