Ben Stokes’s return for the Ashes is huge. Without him, I would not have given England a chance in Australia; with him, they have a glimmer of hope - and maybe a bit more than that.

Stokes is the engine of this England team, the guy who powers them. Not only does he contribute massively himself, he lifts the performances of those around him, inspiring, cajoling and driving up standards.

Crucially, he is also a player Australia fear. The scars he inflicted on them at Headingley two years ago will not have fully healed, and the sight of him walking out at Brisbane - or wherever he manages to play his first Test - will send a few shivers up local spines. There are not many players in this England squad who have tasted any kind of meaningful success against Australia in their own backyard - not even Joe Root, one of England’s true greats, has made a hundred there.

But Stokes, who announced his arrival as a Test player with a century at Perth in 2013, is one of them and clearly relishes being in that white heat of competition.

I would still make Australia clear favourites to win the series - remember, we only drew 2-2 on home soil, where we are strong, when we had him at his best - but it does feel like this has opened up a new world of possibilities.

Stokes also has unfinished business with the Aussies. This is a guy who has won pretty much all you can in the international game - a World Cup with England, a home Ashes, an away Test series in India - but he has not managed an away victory in Australia. That will be on the cricketing bucket list, and having missed the last series down under after the Bristol nightclub incident, I can understand how this was a series he felt he could not miss. He will not have wanted to go down in history as having played only one Test series in Australia.

Having Stokes back is also huge for the Ashes more generally. There is no bigger box-office player in England’s ranks, and while the Australians will probably send a lot of negativity his way - and, judging by some of their back pages yesterday morning, that seems to be happening already - they will relish the fact that he is on his way to play there.

Ashes series are so often defined by the big names - think Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting. It is a stage for players with ego and self-belief, and Stokes has bucketloads of that. He will know he will get a tough time from the Aussie crowds and players, but he will not be worried about that. Quite the opposite - I suspect it will inspire him.