ADAM LYTH is ready for the biggest challenge of his career to date - facing an on-song Australia pace trio of Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood and his former Yorkshire team-mate Mitchell Starc.

Lyth will open the batting for England in the first Ashes Test at Cardiff which starts today in only his third appearance at that level.

The 27-year-old opener has enjoyed a dreamy last 16 months. He has scored runs for fun for Yorkshire, won the LV= County Championship title and has secured awards galore as a result.

He made his Test debut in the first match of the recent drawn series against New Zealand at Lord’s and, in front of friends and family, scored his maiden hundred in the second Test on his home ground at Headingley.

Lyth could now play a significant role in regaining the Ashes for an England team which could include Yorkshire team-mates Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid and Joe Root at some point over the next two months.

“Playing in the Ashes is going to be amazing, a dream come true. Whoever I face, it doesn’t matter - Johnson, Starc or whoever,” said the left-hander, bullish about England’s chances of success.

“I’ve done a hell of a lot on the bowling machine at high speed. My game’s in great order, and I’ve got no worries that I’ll do absolutely fine. I just can’t wait to get out there now.

“I would have liked to have got a few more runs, but I’m happy with the way I’m hitting the ball. Fingers crossed, I’ll get a few runs in the Ashes.

“With the cricket Australia have been playing over the past couple of years, they are quite rightly favourites. But we’re all looking forward to it.

“Johnson, Starc, Harris, Hazlewood, they’re all good bowlers. With the bat, Steve Smith’s in fantastic form. The captain, Clarke, is a fine player too. They are a world-class outfit, but I’m sure they will be having the same chats about our world-class players.

“If we can play the cricket we know we can, we won’t be too far away. They are number one in the world, but there’s no reason why we can’t win the series.

“We will have to be on top of our game to beat them.”

Lyth scored 107 in the second Test against the Kiwis at Headingley in a match which straddled late May and early June.

He had scored seven and 12 in his debut appearance at Lord’s, and needed a significant score to cement his place ahead of the arrival of new coach Trevor Bayliss, who only took over as England’s new coach in late June.

“I copped a couple of decent deliveries at Lord’s, so I wasn’t too fussed about that," said Lyth. "I was under a bit of pressure, so it was nice to get a hundred in front of my friends and family. It was a special moment, and one I will never forget.”

A lot of the build-up to the series has focused on Australia’s battery of quicks - Johnson because of the impact he had on the last series down under, Hazlewood because of a recent man-of-the-series display in the Caribbean and Ryan Harris because of his injury problems.

But little has been mentioned of left-armer Starc, a bowler who was Yorkshire’s specialist Twenty20 overseas player in 2012 and helped the county reach their only Finals Day.

The 25-year-old, a man who White Rose captain Andrew Gale tipped to develop into the best bowler in the world, was named as the Player of the Tournament in the one-day World Cup on home soil in March.

“When he played here for Yorkshire, we knew he was a huge talent, and he’s progressed from that to play international cricket and do well. Everyone got on with him, and we knew he’d go on and be a star,” added Lyth.

“I faced him in the nets a lot with the white ball, not the red ball, though. Hopefully, I'll have success against him.”