England quicks won't be held back until Ashes: McCullum

England have the Ashes on their mind, and especially the arsenal of quick bowlers assembled to win back the urn, but coach Brendon McCullum insists he won't be wrapping their speedsters in cotton wool as the team start a white ball tour in India.

England view pace as critical to their chances in Australia, which places added importance on the shoulders of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, both of whom have had stop-start careers.

Wood has been sidelined since August due to a stress fracture in his right elbow while Archer has been on a diet of white ball only cricket on his latest comeback.

The pair are in India ahead of McCullum starting his reign as England head coach in all formats but there is supplementary firepower from Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Saqib Mahmood and Gus Atkinson.

While Mahmood and Atkinson might be a fraction slower than the rest, all of England's pace options can average in the mid-80mph range, meaning they do not have to rely on one or two.

"While the guys are fit and they're firing and they're enjoying playing, you don't want to hold them back," McCullum said.

"I wouldn't imagine that we'd be doing too much of that cotton-wool treatment.

"(You have to) plan as if you live for ever but live as if you die tomorrow, you've got to have ideas in your head and that's why we've been open about us wanting to build a battery of fast bowlers.

"Pace just adds that little bit of uncomfortableness for the opposition and allows a bit more margin for error too. It also gives the chance to potentially blow teams away and get on top."

McCullum is looking to rejuvenate England's limited-overs teams after their surrender of both World Cup crowns and his reign starts in Kolkata with the first of five T20s against India on Wednesday evening.

The trip, which includes three ODIs, acts as a warm-up for the Champions Trophy starting next month and McCullum, who has local knowledge of the conditions having played for and coached Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, believes making regular inroads into the home side's batting will be key.

"Over here, you do need to be taking wickets," McCullum said.

"Because ground size and Indian pitches are pretty good, so if you're not chipping away in the wicket column, then scores can get pretty big. We'll be looking to try and take wickets, and having that extra little bit of pace helps.