To win the World Cup and Ashes at home would put us in dreamland

This summer represents such an incredible opportunity for cricket in this country. As England players we are so fortunate to have both a World Cup and an Ashes on home soil. Do the double and we really will be in dreamland.

The Ashes are in the back of my mind. I had a bit of a stinker on the last tour of Australia but having come back into the Test side since then and done pretty well, I’m viewing this year’s series as a chance to set the record straight. I will be ready.

Red-ball cricket can wait, however. First comes the World Cup. At our training camp in Cardiff last month Gareth Southgate, the England football manager, spoke to us about how his team looked to play in a way that fans could get behind, reflected the country’s multiculturalism and embraced the pressure of a global tournament.

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The great thing was a lot of what he said reinforced so much of what we have already worked towards over the past four years ourselves. In terms of coping with expectation, people may talk about us being the home side, No 1 in the world and among the favourites for the trophy, but I can honestly say these things don’t weigh down on this team.

We would have the belief regardless of any rankings. To say we are No 1, truly, we do need to convert it into silverware but sport is more than just winning. It’s about how you play and what you stand for. This summer the mission is to inspire and my message to any kids watching us is pretty simple: get a bat, a ball and just play.

When people ask whether I can believe the transformation this England one-day team has undergone since the last World Cup – when we crashed out in the group stage – the honest answer is actually yes. The talent was always there, it just needed to be harnessed.

Thinking back to that campaign, it is the group game against Sri Lanka in Wellington which sticks out as the moment that, on a personal level, I felt things had to change. I had been in the side for a year and was being used in the tournament at opener, supposedly with a license to be aggressive. In that game I actually played myself in a bit at first but the pitch was flat and in the 10th over I went to take the attack to Angelo Mathews, only to mess up the contact and pick out mid-off.

When I got back to the dressing room I got shot down for not sticking to the plan of having a certain number of wickets in hand at certain stages of the innings. Even though we stuck 309 on the board, Sri Lanka knocked off the target with ridiculous ease, one wicket down with 16 balls to spare. We had left far too many runs out there.

Since that tournament all limitations have been removed and our totals have gone through the roof. It really comes down to our captain, Eoin Morgan. His leadership and determination to set the trend - rather than follow others - is why we are where we are going into this World Cup.

In my mind one of his great strengths has been balancing loyalty to players with competition for places. Of the 10 teams in the tournament we have used the fewest number of players over the last four years (34). And there have been times when I and other regulars have had shockers and might have been dropped. But Morgs backs his players. He takes away the fear that a poorly executed attacking shot, or a short run of bad form, will have consequences in terms of your place. When you go out knowing that, you are more likely to come off individually and as a team.

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But the management have still been unafraid to bring in players who can improve us. Look at Jonny Bairstow. For two years he kept coming in for odd games, picking up man of the match awards, and dropping out again. But Morgs kept telling him his time would come and since properly breaking in, he has taken us to another level.

The same could well be said about Jofra Archer going into this tournament. His late arrival has served as a reminder that, however well we have played up to this point, we can always improve. It has pushed everyone in the squad once again.

Another key factor is Trevor Bayliss, our head coach. I genuinely can’t think of another coach who has empowered his captain to such an extent. He and I only had one run-in during his time – a disagreement that lasted just minutes – and that is testament to how relaxed he has made the environment.

It was said before he arrived he was a man of few words and this has been the case throughout his time. This is his last summer in the job and his way will be missed. Hopefully we can send him off in style but, ultimately, it is about doing ourselves justice.

• Free with Saturday’s Guardian newspaper, get our essential Cricket World Cup guide, also featuring a rundown on every team and Vic Marks’s tournament preview