England's woeful record in Australia leaves the odds stacked against them as they aim to win back the Ashes.
It's been a decade since England were last victorious down under and, in the years since, have not even won a test series on their opposition's soil.
It's the pinnacle of the long-standing rivalry between England and Australia, one which stretches back to 1882 - with the name originating from a satirical obituary posted in The Sporting Times following Australia's first test win on English soil.
Part of that piece stated 'the body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia', with England captain Ivo Bligh then vowing to 'regain those ashes' - leading to England's next test down under being dubbed the 'quest to regain the Ashes'.
During said tour, Bligh was presented with a small urn that was reputed to contain the ashes of a wooden bail and sparked a trend - as now the winning team is presented with a replica of that urn upon victory in the Ashes.
That urn has two labels on it, the first of which simply reads 'the Ashes', while the lower label is a verse from an article in the Melbourne Punch magazine.
It reads: "When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;
And the rest coming home with the urn."
The latest series is the 72nd of the Ashes, with the tally almost identical with Australia having 33 wins to England's 32 - with the rest resulting in draws.
