The English cricket team due in Australia later this year to play in the Ashes series has visited the Dachau concentration camp.

The English Cricket Board says that the team was sent to Germany ahead of the series to expose players to “mental and physical challenges designed to better prepare them for the challenges of playing international cricket”.

Captain Andrew Strauss told media that “every player has gained greater insight into themselves, their own team environment and environments outside cricket”.

According to official records, 40,000 inmates died in the 12 years Dachau was operational as a concentration camp.

England open the Ashes series against Australia in Brisbane on November 25.