comfortable England victory in the last series, where the two teams drew T e Oval test in a somewhat anticlimactic aff air. Fans would usually have to wait some two years between each Ashes series, but this year they’ll be granted the opportunity to witness a rare ‘back- to-back’ Ashes encounter, to accommodate Australia’s hosting of the Cricket World Cup at the beginning of 2015. Just as they did in the summer, England
will enter the contest as clear favourites. T e team has become renowned for their effi cient, eff ective play and even in the event of a drawn series will retain the Ashes urn. England’s cricket has been sorely critiqued as “dour” by Australian coach Darren Lehmann, but he will be acutely aware of the diffi culties he faces in negotiating an evident gulf in abilities between
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t Ashes T
he fi rst of fi ve tests begins at the Gabba in Brisbane on 21st November, following the completion of a relatively
o Ashes
A little under three months since England completed a 3 – 0 series win at T e Oval they will once again contest the Ashes with Australia on antipodean soil
the two sides. Australia, who dominated their old rivals
for signifi cant periods of the last century, are a shadow of some of their great sides of the past and even face the prospect of tackling the forthcoming contest without infl uential captain Michael Clarke, who is currently injured. With the series being played during the Australian summer, the hosts will hope the sweltering conditions will off er an advantage, together with the partisan home crowds in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and at the last test in Sydney from 3rd January next year. England have tweaked their squad from the summer, with spin bowler Monty Panesar having been recalled, with Yorkshire batsman Gary Ballance, Warwickshire bowler Boyd Rankin and Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes among the newcomers. T e two starting XI’s are likely to retain a relatively familiar feel and, with the contest following so soon after the last series, that is likely to breed lingering content
between the two sides. We can expect the ‘sledging’ to be bordering on hostile. Having seen their team lose every Ashes
series of the ‘90s, and many more before, the current disparity between the two sides is a welcome sight for England fans. T e classic home Ashes of 2005 was a landmark series in arresting England’s decline. With Ashes series’ neatly tied at 31 wins and fi ve draws apiece, England’s reversal of Ashes fortunes marks an impressive turnaround since Flintoff , Pietersen et al drew battle lines with Australia’s revered star-studded line-up during that glorious summer. As many as 50,000 of England’s ‘barmy
army’ are expected to escape the chilly winter evenings and frenzied Christmas shoppers to watch their heroes in action and enjoy sun- kissed sandy beaches and tall, frosty lagers. Air fares and hotel costs have inevitably risen as a result of demand, with the cost of fl ights generally increasing as the series progresses and
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