It's Here...

So finally the most anticipated Ashes series since the last Ashes series begins today. In this correspondent's memory, no England team has ever been more fancied to take an overseas Ashes series since... well... Wickman can't actually remember.

Mike Gatting's side in 1986 weren't really favourites - although Australia were in the toilet it transpired. When we went back out in 1990, despite having been absolutely destroyed in 1989, England using 300 players in one series and finally being captained by a small Dutch boy who's only claim to fame until then was sticking his finger in a Dike and saving Holland - some people actually thought we had half a chance. But England only got close to a win in the 3rd Test and were two down by then.

This time around though there are signs that the Australians are not in great nick physically and more important, mentally. Ponting is not in vintage form and the Australian top six doesn't look to be much cop either. That said it's not as if England are either. What you can say is that with the England team on the psychologist's couch you'd have an easier set of conversations than you would if they were facing Langer, Hayden, Gilchrist, Warne and McGrath.

Going back four years your combined xi would be Langer, Hayden, Ponting, KP, Hussey, Clarke, Gilchrist, Flintoff, Warne, McGrath and Lee. One Englishman. Vaughan was injured and Tres didn't make the trip.

If you had to pick a combined top six today you'd probably go with Strauss, Watson, Ponting, Pietersen, Clarke, Bell. Well, Wickman would. Nothing in it between Prior and Haddin for the glovework.

It gets interesting bowling wise as you would have to pick Johnson. Or rather the one that could find the cut strip. But you'd also have to pick Broad and Swann. And then there's not a fag paper between all the rest of Australia's bowlers and Steve Finn. So, on atmospherics alone, you'd go with Anderson surely? Although Wickman guesses that no one in the Green and Gold would buy that argument.

Wickman thinks that despite the hype in the build up - at least for once England decided to turn up and play some proper cricket and didn't get dicked on by a bunch of contemptuous State sides - this is going to be as tight as 2005 and 2009. There's not going to be much in it. The Australian top six is as good as ours. The bowling conditions will not give us much of an advantage.

And the killer factor. Swanny is a very good bowler. No question of that. But when did an offspinner - or any finger spinner - last take a series defining bag of wickets in Australia? Now this is a difficult question... because with Warney around for so long, the Aussies didn't have to play one for a decade so we've not much to compare. But very few visiting offies have done the business over there in the last decade... so perhaps the one bowler who offers something truly different, truly world class might not be the difference as much of the UK media has been saying for the last month.

Which is all good. While the red, white and blue bit of Wickman would settle for a brutal, clinical destruction of Australia in 11 days of Test cricket it's not going to happen and a tight series with everything to play for on Boxing Day would make for a far merrier Christmas than the last time we showed up, Ashes in our back pockets looking for a fight and were down and out, gasping for air, half way through December.

Where will you be at midnight? Client ents allowing, Wickman will be on Clarky's sofa, tuned in to Sky HD. Probably full of red wine, carefully shutting one eye to try to focus on what he is hoping will be best Australian series since 1986...