The Ashes series won't be won at Brisbane, but if either side loses at The Gabba they'll have a good deal of ground to make up with the crucial 2nd and 3rd Tests following back-to-back in quick succession at the end of November.

History, if nothing else, favours Australia who have made it something of an issue of national pride in recent seasons to leave a little burnt rubber on the grid at the start of a series.

You only have to look at their record over the past five years to see that the policy is anything but subtle.

While many countries, England included, often adopt a cautionary air in the opening match of a series (and, to Steve Waugh's way of thinking, concede psychological ground by so doing), Australia attempt to roar off the blocks by the time the starter has checked the gun's actually loaded.

It's in the national psyche as much as anything. Australians just like to get the upper hand as early as possible, especially if the hapless Poms are on the other end of the joke.

Witness Michael Slater's extraordinary display against Darren Gough on the first evening of the 2001 Ashes series in England. Slater had been out in the field for most of the day, and with fellow opener Matthew Hayden had fiddled and fretted as Alec Stewart and Andrew Caddick added an improbable 10th wicket century partnership.

When the England innings finally ended Slater and Hayden faced an unexpectedly tricky hour or so at the crease, and most sides would, probably, have been happy enough to get through to the close with perhaps the loss of a single wicket. After all, there's always tomorrow.

Tomorrow, though, is promised to no man, and Slater went after Gough in the first over that evening as though these were the last six balls he would ever face. Four of them cannoned back off the advertising hoardings as 16 runs and a big psychological tick went into the tourists' credit column, and the Australians never looked back.

Gough, it has to be said, was never quite the force in that series he was billed to be. Coincidence? You can never be quite sure in sport, but most observers reckoned Slater had, in golfing parlance, marched him in early. And cricket is supposed to be a team game…

So Australia like to make you aware that they're in the game just about as soon as it starts. Their media, in fact, make good and sure you know you're on a hiding to nothing by even setting foot in the country.

Even the passport inspectors get in on the act; on my only visit Down Under the official in question discovered I was in Sydney for the cricket and helpfully remarked as he waved me through that we'd be lucky to get much in the forthcoming Test match. And England weren't even playing! The man, it seemed, having heard the words 'cricket' and 'England' just couldn't resist making the obvious, but incorrect, connection.

Mind you, Australia's track record in opening Tests since November 1997 isn't too shabby. They'd be even further ahead of the pack if their margins of victory were taken into account.

There's nothing like a nice, juicy win in a series-opener to allow Steve Waugh and company to start that inevitable drip-feed of casual comments about individual players and the opposition in general to their friends in the Australian press, who, unlike their English counterparts, act as unpaid (we hope) cheerleaders for the Australian team.

They've had plenty of opportunity in those five years, too.

Their most recent outing, in the 'away' series against Pakistan started with a relatively slim 41 runs win in Colombo' although they followed that up with two thumping victories in Sharjah.

Before that they'd completed a mental rout of a supposedly-strong South African side by commencing the home and away series last winter with a 246 runs win in Adelaide and a massive innings and 360 runs mauling of their hosts in Johannesburg; one of the biggest wins ever recorded in Tests.

Previous encounters have seen winning starts against just about everyone bar New Zealand at home last winter, but there's a flip side to this apparent one-way traffic as well; as Lance-Corporal Jones memorably put it: 'They don't like it up 'em'.

England's problem, as far as the history books are concerned, is that they've consistently had trouble putting it up 'em on their travels over the last ten years.

Last winter's 98 run success in Christchurch en route to a 1-1 series draw with New Zealand was, in fact, England's only Test win away from home in the opening match of a series in the last decade.

In motor racing terms it sounds a little like giving the tyres a final check while Michael Schumacher disappears round the first bend, and it does give the England tacticians food for thought ahead of the Ashes opener in Brisbane.

England cannot really afford to lose the Test, and would, of course, love to win it, but Nasser Hussain's natural caution will not see him taking unwarranted risks so early in the piece.

Most of his players are unknown quantities at this level, and he'll be happy enough to move on to Adelaide, venue for the 2nd Test on the 21st November, with pride and the scoreboard still on equal terms.

However he has to balance that with the knowledge that the Australian players, having just seen Mark Waugh ditched by the selectors in the first serious change to their much-vaunted batting line-up in three years, may be feeling just a shade vulnerable.

Captain Steve Waugh admitted as much in the days after his brother's unceremonious exit, and the skipper himself will certainly be feeling the strain despite his gutsy century in the 3rd Test against Pakistan in Sharjah.

In many ways this series has come at the right time for both sides; Australia, because once again they will feel they have points to prove despite their unquestioned status as the world's best cricket side, and for England, who find themselves on the upward curve after four years of slow but steady improvement, and for once, a settled and clear policy of team selection and development.

England's record in away series since 1993:

IND v ENG Jan/Feb 1993 IND won three-Test series 3-0; 1st Test (Calcutta) IND won by eight wickets

SRI v ENG Mar 1993 SRI won one-Test series 1-0; 1st Test (Colombo) SRI won by five wickets

WI v ENG Feb/Apr 1994 WI won five-Test series 3-1; 1st Test (Kingston) WI won by eight wickets

AUS v ENG Nov 94/Feb 95 AUS won five-Test series 3-1; 1st Test (Brisbane) AUS won by 184 runs

SA v ENG Nov 95/Jan 96 SA won five-Test series 1-0; 1st Test (Centurion) Drawn

ZIM v ENG Dec 96 Two-Test series drawn 0-0; 1st Test (Bulawayo) Drawn

NZ v ENG Jan/Feb 97 ENG won three-Test series 2-0; 1st Test (Auckland) Drawn

WI v ENG Jan/Mar 98 WI won six-Test series 3-1; 1st Test (Kingston) Drawn

AUS v ENG Nov 98/Jan 99 AUS won five-Test series 3-1; 1st Test (Brisbane) Drawn

SA v ENG Nov 99/Jan 00 SA won five-Test series 2-1; 1st Test (Johannesburg) SA won by an innings and 21 runs

PAK v ENG Nov/Dec 2000 ENG won three-Test series 1-0; 1st Test (Lahore) Drawn

SRI v ENG Feb/Mar 2001 ENG won three-Test series 2-1; 1st Test (Galle) SRI won by an innings and 28 runs

IND v ENG Dec 2001 IND won three-Test series 1-0; 1st Test (Mohali) IND won by 10 wickets

NZ v ENG Mar 2002 Three-Test series drawn 1-1; 1st Test (Christchurch) ENG won by 98 runs

Australia's record in all series since Nov 1997:

AUS v NZ Nov 1997 AUS won three-Test series 2-0; 1st Test (Brisbane) AUS won by 186 runs

AUS v SA Dec 1997/Jan 1998 AUS won three-Test series 1-0; 1st Test (Melbourne) Drawn

IND v AUS Mar 1998 IND won three-Test series 2-1; 1st Test (Chennai) IND won by 179 runs

PAK v AUS Oct 1998 AUS won three-Test series 1-0; 1st Test (Rawalpindi) AUS won by an innings and 99 runs

AUS v ENG Nov 1998/Jan 1999 AUS won five-Test series 3-1; 1st Test (Brisbane) Drawn

WI v AUS Mar/Apr 1999 Four-match series drawn 2-2; 1st Test (Port-of-Spain) AUS won by 312 runs

SRI v AUS Sep 1999 SRI won three-match series 1-0; 1st Test (Kandy) SRI won by six wickets

ZIM v AUS Oct 1999 AUS won one-Test series 1-0; 1st Test (Harare) AUS won by 10 wickets

AUS v PAK Nov 1999 AUS won three-Test series 3-0; 1st Test (Brisbane) AUS won by 10 wickets

AUS v IND Dec 1999/Jan 2000 AUS won three-Test series 3-0; 1st Test (Adelaide) AUS won by 285 runs

NZ v AUS Mar 2000 AUS won three-Test series 3-0; 1st Test (Auckland) AUS won by 62 runs

AUS v WI Nov 2000/Jan 2001 AUS won five-Test series 5-0; 1st Test (Brisbane) AUS won by an innings and 126 runs

IND v AUS Feb/Mar 2001 IND won three-Test series 2-1; 1st Test (Mumbai) AUS won by 10 wickets

ENG v AUS Jul/Aug 2001 AUS won five-Test series 4-1; 1st Test (Edgbaston) AUS won by an innings and 118 runs

AUS v NZ Nov 2001 Three-Test series drawn 0-0; 1st Test (Brisbane) Drawn

AUS v SA Dec 2001/Jan 2002 AUS won three-Test series 3-0; 1st Test (Adelaide) AUS won by 246 runs

SA v AUS Feb/Mar 2002 AUS won three-Test series 2-1; 1st Test (Johannesburg) AUS won by an innings and 360 runs

PAK v AUS Oct 2002 AUS won three-Test series 3-0; 1st Test (Colombo) AUS won by 41 runs

4 Nov, 2002