| THE ASHES SERIES 2017-18 | |||
| 23-27 November 2017 | 00:00 | FIRST TEST | Brisbane |
| 02-06 December 2017 | 04:00 | SECOND TEST | Adelaide (D/N) |
| 14-18 December 2017 | 02:30 | THIRD TEST | Perth |
| 25-29 December 2017 | 23:30 | FOURTH TEST | Melbourne |
| 03-07 January 2018 | 23:30 | FIFTH TEST | Sydney |
ENGLAND begin their bid to keep hold of the Ashes overnight as the oldest cricket rivalry in the world resumes with the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Joe Root's men enter the latest edition of this perpetual contest confident in the knowledge that they have won four of their last five series against Australia.
However, three of those wins came at home - and the team's most recent visit Down Under, the so-called Pomnishambles tour - ended in a humiliating 5-0 whitewash to the Aussies.
Already this time, without a single ball having even been bowled, England have faced a few notable setbacks.
Most prominently, they are without the services of their best all-round player, Ben Stokes, following his arrest on suspicion of assault after an incident near a night club in Bristol in the early hours of 25 September.
Stokes had been named in the original squad in an announcement on 27 September which actually raised a few eyebrows on several counts.
But, following a review of video footage published in The Sun, the 26-year-old Durham all-rounder was withdrawn from the touring party "until further notice", pending an investigation.
Of course, there is still a chance at this stage that Stokes may yet play a part later in the tour if the charges against him are dropped.
The case against him is not clear-cut, with the Sun newspaper also publishing a later story in which two men hailed Stokes as a hero for protecting them from homophobic abuse on the night of the alleged assault.
For now, though, England must make do without him - or indeed his named replacement, Steven Finn, who was forced to pull out of the series on 7 November with a serious knee injury.
At least Root's men head into the winter having won the first two series under him at home this summer.
But, despite those victories over South Africa and West Indies, the same old batting problems persisted at slots two, three and five.
Dawid Malan, Gary Ballance and James Vince were all therefore rather unconvincing selections, particularly in the cases of Ballance and Vince.
Meanwhile, Mark Stoneman will be playing just his fourth Test when he takes to the crease to open the batting with Alastair Cook.
Stoneman has at least played himself into a bit of form already with a century and three half-centuries in the warm-up matches - and he certainly looks a far better bet than the painfully statuesque Keaton Jennings.
More worryingly, though, England have continued to struggle in adverse situations as a collective.
Indeed, it is something which has affected the consistency of their performances for several years now.
They usually either win handsomely or lose horribly with no middle ground, and often no sign of steel or fight in the players if they fall behind in a game.
Such weakness is exactly what the Australian pace bowlers love to prey upon. No one will ever forget the way Mitchell Johnson terrorised the English batsmen in the 2013-14 whitewash.
And, while Johnson has now retired, his natural successor - Mitchell Starc - warmed up for the series by becoming the first bowler in Sheffield Shield history to take a hat-trick in both innings of a match.
England simply cannot allow Starc - or Josh Hazlewood - to bully them in the way that Johnson did. They must stand up to the challenge that awaits, and perhaps they might just surprise themselves a little.
After all, it is not all doom and gloom heading into the Gabba.
There are, in fact, some genuine grounds for optimism on the basis that the Australian batting is not in particularly good shape either.
Just as England have Cook and captain Root as mainstays in the top six but offer little else, the Aussies appear to have an over-reliance on David Warner and skipper Steve Smith.
It would be fair to say then that there has been just as much head-scratching from the Australian selectors ahead of the first Test.
Unfortunately for them, though, their eventual decisions have gone down like a lead balloon among the press and public Down Under.
Chief among the grievances is the shock recall of 32-year-old Tim Paine, a wicketkeeper who played his most recent Test seven years ago.
Bizarrely, Paine has not even been taking the gloves for his state side, Tasmania, and his most recent first-class ton came back in 2006.
The umpteenth return of Shaun Marsh is not exactly the most inspiring news, either. Meanwhile, young Middlesbrough-born opener Matt Renshaw is one of six players dropped from their most recent Test, despite that being a hard-fought win in Bangladesh.
Former Aussie leg-spinner Stuart MacGill took to Twitter to refer to the selectors as "morons masquerading as mentors" while Australian Test Match Special commentator Jim Maxwell described them as "unhinged".
And so, there are already signs that, if Australia struggle in Brisbane, their fickle supporters could turn against them.
It is not just England who will be feeling the pressure. As such, it is essential that the tourists get a good start at the Gabba - though history shows that is far easier said than done.
The Aussies have not lost a Test match to any opponent on the Brisbane ground since 1988 - and England last won there on their successful 1986-87 tour, although they did secure a draw in 2010.
A strong start is vital then, especially in this particular series - as opportunity knocks in the second Test in Adelaide.
That match - regardless of what actually happens on the pitch - will go down in history as the first ever day-night Ashes Test.
And, of course, England hope that the evening sessions - with the pink ball under lights - will give their main man James Anderson the chance to swing the ball as prodigiously as we all know he can.
This time then, the Ashes could still be alive at Christmas following the third Test at the WACA in Perth.
Thereafter, the tour moves onto Melbourne for the traditional Boxing Day Test before the Sydney Cricket Ground hosts the fifth and final Test in the first week of 2018.
In summary, this Ashes series appears to be a relatively evenly-matched contest between two sides which are still developing under the guidance of their respective young captains.
Unfortunately, that means home advantage feels as if it is going to be decisive with the hard, bouncy pitches surely favouring the Australian bowlers.
Indeed, if frontline pace pair Starc and Hazlewood remain untroubled by injury throughout the series, the Aussies could easily get on a roll against an England team still so fragile in adversity.
Certainly, this should not turn into another Pomnishambles tour - as, even without Stokes, England have the talent to play plenty of good cricket.
Nevertheless, it is impossible to escape the conclusion that Australia are rightly favourites to regain the Ashes urn.
Prediction: 4-1 to Australia
ENGLAND SQUAD
| Age | Tests | 100 | 50 | HS | ||
| Joe Root (c) | 26 | Yorkshire | 60 | 13 | 32 | 254 |
| Moeen Ali | 30 | Worcestershire | 44 | 5 | 12 | 155* |
| James Anderson | 35 | Lancashire | 129 | 0 | 1 | 81 |
| Jonny Bairstow (wk) | 28 | Yorkshire | 45 | 3 | 17 | 167* |
| Jake Ball | 26 | Nottinghamshire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
| Gary Ballance | 27 | Yorkshire | 23 | 4 | 7 | 156 |
| Stuart Broad | 31 | Nottinghamshire | 109 | 1 | 11 | 169 |
| Alastair Cook | 32 | Essex | 147 | 31 | 55 | 294 |
| Mason Crane | 20 | Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Tom Curran | 22 | Surrey | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Ben Foakes (wk) | 24 | Surrey | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Dawid Malan | 30 | Middlesex | 5 | 0 | 2 | 65 |
| Craig Overton | 23 | Somerset | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Mark Stoneman | 30 | Surrey | 3 | 0 | 1 | 52 |
| James Vince | 26 | Hampshire | 7 | 0 | 0 | 42 |
| Chris Woakes | 28 | Warwickshire | 18 | 0 | 3 | 66 |
| Ben Stokes | 26 | Durham | 39 | 6 | 12 | 258 |
ASHES HISTORY
⚱️Overall series 69
Australia 32 England 32 Drawn 5
⚱️In Australia only 34
Australia 18 England 14 Drawn 2
⚱️Overall Tests 325
Australia 130 England 106 Drawn 89
⚱️In Australia only 162
Australia 82 England 56 Drawn 24
RECENT SERIES since 2000
| Hosts | Holder | ||
| 2001 | ENG | Australia won 4-1 | Australia |
| 2002-03 | AUS | Australia won 4-1 | Australia |
| 2005 | ENG | England won 2-1 | England |
| 2006-07 | AUS | Australia won 5-0 | Australia |
| 2009 | ENG | England won 2-1 | England |
| 2010-11 | AUS | England won 3-1 | England |
| 2013 | ENG | England won 3-0 | England |
| 2013-14 | AUS | Australia won 5-0 | Australia |
| 2015 | ENG | England won 3-2 | England currently hold the Ashes |
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