England batsman Joe Root says the squad is raring to go on the Sri Lanka tour following a short period out of international cricket.
Root, along with the rest of the players, enjoyed a welcome break at the end of another busy season, but after meeting up for training ahead of the next tour he explained the squad are itching to get back on the park.
The 23-year-old was named in the ICC Test team of the year following an outstanding summer for his country, but the Yorkshireman is keen to get back into action with the World Cup looming next year.
Speaking exclusively to ecb.co.uk, Root said:“We’ve had a nice little window when we’ve been able to get away from the game and spend some time at home or on holiday or whatever the lads have chosen to do.
“The last three days have been great, we’ve been back hitting some balls and spending some time with each other and really now looking forward to going away again.” 
Root was also quick to back his team-mates, suggesting England had a side more than capable of winning on the sub-continent.
“We’ve got a very exciting squad that we’re taking out there," he said.
“We have a lot of players that want to put their names forward for that World Cup squad going out to Australia and there’s no better opportunity than a seven-match series versus Sri Lanka, so hopefully we can get out there and put some really good performances in and do something special.”
A summer of disappointing displays in one-day cricket with series defeats to Sri Lanka and India mean that England face a tough challenge ahead of the 2015 World Cup, but a win in the fifth ODI against India showed how dangerous Alastair Cook's side can be.
Root admitted the performances have been disappointing, but insisted they can improve.
Netting outdoors in November - fantastic preparation says assistant coach Paul Farbrace. Tacky wickets simi... https://t.co/00yQ2GiGEv
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“We’ve not performed as well as we would have liked of late in one-day cricket and having this strong block of one-dayers coming up now is a great opportunity to put that right and put some consistency in our performances together," he added.
“If we can string a few wins together early on and lay a marker down and perform like we know we can do then that will set us up really nicely for going out to Australia.”
England’s tour to Sri Lanka will be followed by a tri-series in Australia before the World Cup starts and, although the conditions will vary a great deal, Root is keen to breed a winning culture in the squad.
“We might have to play slightly differently out there compared to Australia but the principles are the same; you still have to break the side down and build big scores and take 10 wickets," he said.
“Our methods might be slightly different but the basics of it will be very similar so it's just making sure we find the right formula out in Sri Lanka and transferring all the good stuff we do out there into Australia."