Ashley Giles has known the joy and felt the despair of Ashes cricket.

And he has suffered in Australia, the long-time graveyard of overseas spinners.

But now the 2005 Ashes hero is backing England’s new ‘king of spin’ to buck the trend and bamboozle the Aussies.

Graeme Swann heads into battle in Brisbane as England’s finest spinner in a generation.

And, despite touring spinners’ wickets costing an average of 49 runs each on Aussie soil in the last decade, Giles reckons Swann has the form and confidence to defy the statistics.

Giles, who tasted Ashes success in the thrilling home series of 2005 before playing at the start of the 2006-07 Aussie whitewash Down Under, said: “Graeme is key to the side.

“We’ve got a very good bowling attack all round but he has been our control bowler as well as being our wicket-taker.

“He is bowling exceptionally well and I don’t think a spinner will ever have gone to those shores – certainly not during my time in the game – with the confidence and ability that he has shown during the last 12 months.

“So I think he can have a lot of success there. He bowls well to left-handers and Australia have some of them, he gets a lot of bounce and some turn, so I think he will do really well.

“It’s always dangerous to judge people by what’s happened before. Where he is now is a really good place.

“He has bowled fantastically well and you have to go on that, and look at the balance of the two sides and where Australia are at with their confidence.

“I think he can have a really good series. It’s not all dependent on him but he is a key man.”

While Swann carries the weight of England’s bowling expectations, one of Giles’ Warwickshire charges heads into the eagerly-awaited series in the batting form of his life.

Ian Bell warmed up for the opening Test at The Gabba with 192 against Australia A in Tasmania and, after a run-laden end to last summer for the Bears, Bell will walk out in Queensland on Thursday with hopes high for a successful series.

After seeing Bell experience mixed fortunes in three previous Ashes series, his Edgbaston director of cricket believes the 28-year-old has his best chances yet to leave a lasting impression on Australia.

Giles said: “I expect good things from him. That middle-order position is suited to him and he is full of beans and full of confidence.

“I spoke to him yesterday and he was upbeat. He said the team are as well prepared as they can be and it’s always nice to start off a series with that kind of confidence.

“For the whole of last season he played really well when he came back to us – he was a different sort of player. And he was the same for England.

“He played with a lot of confidence, he was aggressive and he saw games home. He had a massive impact.

“He has extra maturity and that brings a difference in how he approaches his cricket and his training.

“Sometimes it’s just about realising what you have and what you want.

“He was left out a couple of years ago by England and that can make a massive difference and open your eyes.

“He has worked incredibly hard on his cricket and his physical work and that is paying dividends now.”

While Bell will begin the series full of optimism, England’s middle-order star touched down in Australia in the midst of his worst-ever slump in form.

Kevin Pietersen’s series of low scores have seen his place in England’s batting line-up questioned seriously for the first time while his struggles against slow left-armers continued when he lost his off-stump to Steve O’Keefe against Australia A.

But Giles expects his former team-mate’s big-match instincts to take over in the next six weeks.

He said: “Questions are always asked in media circles, but he has to ignore that and once the series starts you try to stay as internal as you can.

“In any given series someone is going to struggle with the bat, but Kevin Pietersen lives for big series and big Test matches and they don’t get much bigger than the Ashes in Australia when you haven’t won for 25 years over there.

“He has got out to left-armers a few times but he works hard at his batting and I am sure he will get over any problems like that.

“I don’t think it will be a major factor in this series.”

England will begin the series in high spirits after successful preparations while, in contrast, questions persist over Australian form, selection and the position of captain Ricky Ponting.

Giles is wary of taking Ponting’s side lightly, but believes it is impossible to ignore the contrasting moods in the camps with battles less than 36 hours away.

He said: “We’re all looking forward to it. The way I see it, the England side is the best prepared it’s been for a long time ahead of an Ashes series, particularly one in Australia.

“We are playing some really good cricket and everyone is excited, but we know the Aussies will come at us really hard on day one at Brisbane and we will all be watching that with much anticipation.

“This time I think we are very well prepared and the Aussies have certainly got issues, so I think we go into the series as favourites and I wouldn’t have any problem with saying that.

“That doesn’t mean we’re going storm it and it doesn’t mean there won’t be tough competition, but I don’t think that puts any more pressure on the team.

“Our focus is on preparing properly, competing hard and doing a little bit right every day.

“Those are the things that win you games of cricket and you can’t keep living on what happened in the past or what might happen down the road.

“If we approach each day right as the series moves on and if our players play to the best of their ability I think they will win the series.”

By Steve Madeley