Matt Prior: 'England must ignore Australia troubles'

England Test vice-captain Matt Prior has urged his teammates to ignore Australia's troubled preparation for the Ashes series and focus on their own game.

Prior said that David Warner's ban for punching Joe Root and the sacking of coach Mickey Arthur should not affect England as they get ready for the first Test on July 10.

"Firstly we don't know what is going on in the Aussie camp, we don't know the details and we don't know the politics," he told Sky Sports News. "Secondly it doesn't affect us at all. We don't want to get involved in that, we don't want to focus on them at all.

"I think one of the toughest things about the Ashes is that there are so many things going on off the pitch and away from your team that it can pull you away from concentrating on your own things if you're not careful.

"If you take your eye off your own team for one minute it can bite you very quickly, so that is where we'll be focusing."

The first Test takes place at Trent Bridge.