Joe Root: 'England are confident'

England star Joe Root has insisted that he and his side are full of confidence ahead of next week's first Ashes Test against Australia.

The tourists registered a seven-wicket win over a Cricket Australia Invitational XI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.

Root, who contributed 75 runs in England's first innings, believes that the victory has given England a big boost.

"Obviously it's great to get in a good performance this week. Good to see a lot of the lads put in strong performances and taking a lot of confidence forward to next week," Root told Sky Sports News.

"Everyone has really contributed and that's really pleasing. There will be a lot of positives to take forward to next week and hopefully we can take the momentum from this win into that.

"It's very exciting now, obviously getting the warm-up games out of the way. We've prepared very well. We've got a very important few days ahead of us. I think the mood is very good in the camp and we're really looking forward to the whole series really."

The first Test will begin in Brisbane on Thursday.