Australia's attack have spoken of a desire to open up the "scars" in England's side as they prepare for the Ashes series getting under way in Brisbane on Thursday.

England hold the urn after winning 3-2 on home turf in 2015, but focus has lingered on their 5-0 whitewash on their last trip to Australia four years ago.

Captain Joe Root, Alastair Cook - skipper at the time of that debacle - James Anderson and Stuart Broad remain key cogs of England's side.

And off-spinner Nathan Lyon hopes that memories of being tormented by Mitchell Johnson will lead to a petrified display from the tourists again.

"There's some cracks underneath the surface with the fellas who've come out here," Lyon told reporters on Monday.

"Alastair Cook, he faced Mitchell Johnson out here. Joe Root got dropped last time he was out here.

"So, there are some cracks under the surface that we can hopefully ruffle the surface and crack them right open again and put them under pressure.

"Our job as the Australian cricket team out here is to put these guys under pressure and make them feel as uncomfortable as possible."

Root was dropped for the final Test in Sydney four years ago after averaging 27.42, but he has been going at almost 60 since to earn a shot at the captaincy.

"We'll certainly bring that up," said Josh Hazlewood. "He's a different player to then, he's been fantastic player for the past couple of years.

"But we'll obviously bring that up and hope to open up a few scars of the guys that did tour here last time."