NOT for the first time, England and Australia are involved in another ‘Ashes’ series — a contest which brings the best out of both the teams as passion rises and emotions sway.

Although the two teams played their first Test in 1877; in fact, the first of the history at Melbourne which Australia won, the rivalry never seemed to die down.

The birth of ‘The Ashes’ came a lot later when in 1882 Australia defeated England at The Oval for the first time on the English soil. Disgusted English fans and the media unable to digest what the ‘convicts’ — as the Aussies were called — did to them then produced a mock obituary of English cricket in the local Sporting Times, stating that ‘English cricket had died and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia’.

The media in England dubbed the next England tour to Australia as the fight to regain the ashes.

In Melbourne when England arrived on the 1882-83 tour, a terracotta urn supposedly containing ashes of cricket ‘bails’ was presented to the England captain Ivo Bligh by a group of women which attracted huge publicity and from then on both England and Australia fought for that urn as a trophy.

Legend is that the lady who presented the urn to the English captain also married him. The replica of the 131-year-old urn is now given to the team which wins The Ashes series. The original trophy rested first in Melbourne cricket museum and now has a permanent home at Lord’s.

England, having won the last two Ashes series in 2009 and in 2010-11, holds the urn and is obviously geared up to retain it instead of handing over to the present Australian team led by Michael Clarke which certainly do not have the kind of reputation in recent times to outplay their opponents at any level.

Recent Champions Trophy performance and dissensions within the team, sacking of their coach Mickey Arthur has all contributed in their falling popularity as a cohesive unit. Darren Lehmann has taken over as their coach. A former Test left-hander has come up with new resolve to uplift the dented image that Clarke’s team has.

Michael Clarke’s fitness has come as a bonus and David Warner’s return to the fold after being left out from the Champions Trophy because of his physical assault on England batsman Joe Root in a bar is added bonus. What really is most important is the fact that their captain remains fit and their bowlers like Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson show form with the new batsman Chris Rogers who at 35 would be needing a lot of effort to remain in the frontline.

England led by Alastair Cook, and backed up by Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott — whose average in the Ashes Tests (86.40) is the highest by an English batsman — and Kevin Pietersen would naturally make the Aussies struggle for wickets. Their batting depth is much stronger than the visitors’.

The likes of Waugh brothers, Shane Warne, Dennis Lillee, Len Hutton, Walter Hammond, Ian Botham and before them Harold Larwood, Ray Lindwall and Fred Spofforth have been phenomenal when it came to Ashes but none so feared as was the great Sir Don Bradman who in 1930 and 1934 scored 334 and 340 in Headingley Tests. The scourge of England bowlers.

The series of five Tests could be interesting if Australia, as underdogs, stage an upset to regain The Ashes. Only time will tell.