England 's assistant coach Paul Collingwood has made an emotional post on Instagram before the squad travels out to Oman for the T20 World Cup.
England fly out on Monday evening for the tournament, which is due to conclude on November 14.
The Ashes series is set to immediately follow the competition, with England's multi-format players expected to fly directly to Australia once their involvement in the World Cup is over.
The likes of Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Dawid Malan, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are part of England's World Cup squad and also in contention for the Ashes.
However, they could face up to four months away from their families and players are set to make a decision on their availability for the series later this week.
Buttler, for example, has a young family and his wife recently gave birth to their second daughter Margot.
As a result, he has said that he "wouldn't be comfortable" playing at both the World Cup and the Ashes if it meant he could not see them.
"For myself, if I had to do a World Cup and an Ashes – four, five months without seeing my family – I wouldn’t be comfortable doing that," Buttler said.
England's support staff also have a difficult decision to make and Collingwood has laid bare the dilemma they are facing, stating that it is "not easy, no matter how tough you feel you are".
In an Instagram story, he wrote: "I love my job and I’m so excited for the winter of cricket ahead but saying goodbye to your daughters for potentially 3 months is not easy, no matter how tough you feel you are.
"We all make sacrifices in life. Looking forward to meeting up with the team tomorrow because I know we will try to help each other like a family."
