Contrary to popular Australian myth the Ashes, one of sport's oldest and most enduring international rivalries, is actually contested by two sides – not that anyone aged 20 or under would evidence to back that up.

England last held the Ashes urn in 1986/7 following their surprising 2-1 triumph under the leadership of Mike Gatting but traditionally bi-annual contest has been keenly fought for 125 years now. Here's a brief resume of the fixture's key historical moments.

1876-77: Test cricket begins in Melbourne on March 15, 1877, with Australia winning the first ever Test. Charles Bannerman scored the first Test century and the England team is comprised entirely from professionals and excluded players like WG Grace, while the Australian team is made up of players only from Sydney and Melbourne.

1878: Australia make their first full tour of England and although no Tests are played, they beat the MCC in a single day with Spofforth taking 6-4 and 4-16 en route to 357 wickets on the tour at an average of 7.18.

1880: The first Test match played in England is won by the hosts with WG Grace scoring 152. His brother GF Grace makes a pair and dies a month later with a fatal chill. Spofforth takes 391 wickets on tour at an average of 5.63.

1882: The Ashes are born after Australia's maiden Test victory in England at The Oval, dismissing England for 77 to win by seven runs with Spofforth taking 14-90 in the match, bowling his last 11 overs for two runs and four wickets. The Times newspaper recorded the event by writing an obituary claiming English cricket had ''died'' and noted that ''the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia''.

1884-85: The first five-Test series in Australia is played, with England winning 3-2. The tour is marred by disputes over money which resulted in the entire Australian team withdrawing from the Melbourne Test.

1920-21: The only 5-0 whitewash in Ashes history with Warwick Armstrong leading Australia to a crushing victory. Despite some great batting by Hobbs, Australia win all Tests fairly comfortably.

1928-29: The series which marked Sir Donald Bradman's entry into Ashes folklore with his debut at Brisbane before he was dropped for the first and only time in his career. His recall for the third Test and his maiden Test half-century could not prevent a strong England side claiming a comprehensive 4-1 triumph.

1930: This series marked the development of Bradman into the greatest batsman in cricket history by making the highest ever score by an Australian, 334 at Headingley - including 309 on the opening day. It helped Australia reclaim the Ashes.

1932-33: The most controversial series in Ashes history. Known as the Bodyline tour because of England's tactic to bowl short at the batsman on leg stump and pack the leg-side field in an effort to restrict Bradman, it was regarded as a success even though he averaged over 50 in the series. England regained the Ashes, but Anglo-Australian relations were damaged for many years to come.

1934: A remarkable series if only because Bradman endured seven successive Test innings without a half-century finishing the series strongly with a triple century and double hundred in the final two Tests to ensure Australia regained the Ashes. Continuing his love affair with Headingley, Bradman hit 304 before scoring 244 in the final Test at The Oval.

1938: Bradman passes Hobbs' Ashes record of 12 centuries, but is unable to secure another series victory for Australia with Wally Hammond leading England to a drawn series. This time, Bradman suffers a relative failure at his favourite Headingley ground, scoring only 103, but England bounce back with Len Hutton claiming a triple century at The Oval in his first Test series.

1948: Possibly the strongest Australian side of all time, they marked Bradman's last tour by remaining undefeated despite facing an England side which included celebrated names like Denis Compton, John Edrich, Alec Bedser and Len Hutton. The series ends with Bradman being dismissed for a duck in his final innings at The Oval and finished with a Test average of 99.96.

1956: This series will forever be remembered for the incredible performance by Jim Laker at Old Trafford. The Australians began the tour badly by losing their first match to a county since before the first World War when Surrey beat them with Laker claiming all 10 wickets in the first innings. It was a preview of what was to follow with Laker taking 19 wickets at Old Trafford to help England claim a 2-1 triumph.

1970-71: One of England's finest Ashes tours in recent years. Led by Raymond Illingworth, they claimed a 2-0 victory after an outstanding performance from young fast bowler Jon Snow, who claimed seven for 40 to win the crucial fourth Test at Sydney.

1972: One of the most entertaining Ashes series with the series drawn 2-2 after Australia claimed victory in the final Test at The Oval. John Snow, Dennis Lillee and Derek Underwood all gave match-winning bowling performances, but no-one had a more spectacular game than Australian swing bowler Bob Massie on his debut in the second Test at Lord's when he claimed 16 wickets in the match. The Ashes were retained by England in the fourth Test at Headingley, where Underwood spun them to victory on a controversial grassless pitch inside three days. Australia won the final Test after the Chappell brothers became the first to score Test centuries in the same match.

1978-79: England completed a 5-1 rout, their biggest ever Ashes victory, against an Australian side decimated by World Series Cricket. Ian Botham, Bob Taylor and John Emburey emerged during this series and Mike Brearley's reputation as a captain of the highest class was also developed.

1981: Perhaps the greatest Ashes series ever, primarily because of the huge impact by Botham on the proceedings. Relieved of the England captaincy after the second Test at Lord's to allow the return of Brearley, Botham seemed rejuvenated and proceeded to blast an unbeaten 149 in the next Test at Headingley just as England seemed set for an innings defeat. Needing 130 to win, Australia were dismissed for 111 with Bob Willis taking eight for 43. Not content with that display, he tore through Australia's line-up to conjure up another unlikely victory at Edgbaston before scoring another century at Old Trafford to clinch the remarkable series.

1986-87: England's last successful Ashes series under the captaincy of Mike Gatting. It was a high scoring series with Chris Broad scoring three centuries while Botham blasted a rapid 138 in the first Test victory at Brisbane. The series was settled in the fourth Test in Melbourne when Gladstone Small spearheaded an innings victory inside three days.

1993: Shane Warne made his entry into Ashes history by claiming a wicket with his first ball against England, a sharply-turning delivery which spun from outside leg-stump and clipped Gatting's off-stump during the first Test at Old Trafford. The psychological damage inflicted by that one ball enabled Warne to claim 34 wickets in a series which Australia triumphed 4-1. Michael Atherton was appointed captain after the fourth Test and guided England to a consolation victory in his second Test at The Oval.

2001: Only Mark Butcher's brilliant century to claim victory at Headingley prevented Australia completing a whitewash. Spurred on by Adam Gilchrist's brilliant innings in the middle order, Australia overwhelmed an England side disrupted by injuries to Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan.

25 Oct, 2002