England's magnificent series win over the Aussies last year has generated interest and ticket sales not witnessed Down Under since the halycon days of Don Bradman and the 1932-33 'Bodyline' series and all is set for a potential 25 days' of cut-and-thrust cricket with no-quarter given.

England come to these shores without their steadying skipper Michael Vaughan and pace bowler Simon Jones and have been further set back on tour by the sudden departure home of senior opening batsman Marcus Trescothick with a stress-related illness.

But led by match-winning all-rounder Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff, England present their best chance of becoming the first English side to win a series in Australia in 20 years after taking 16 years to retrieve the urn at The Oval 14 months ago.

The Australian team, accustomed to having their own way in world cricket, had their period of introspection over the upset loss of the Ashes and are consumed by retrieving the urn amid huge national expectation.

An issue which has been a slow burner is the ageing Australian side, dubbed 'Dad's Army' by those Britons with long memories back when England was taunted with the epithet.

Five players in Australia's 13-man squad are 35 or older: Glenn McGrath (36), Shane Warne (37), Matthew Hayden (35), Justin Langer (36) and Damien Martyn (35), four others are in their thirties and for some are a few months away from retirement.

In contrast, England's average age is likely to be just 27, with no player over 30.

Although Warne (685) and McGrath (542) are among Test cricket's all-time leading wicket-takers, there are fears they may struggle to back up with little respite between the (1st and 2nd) Brisbane-Adelaide and (4th and 5th) Melbourne-Sydney Tests.

But despite being one year older, the Australians have put together 11 wins from their last 12 Tests (the other drawn), while England, excluding The Oval forfeit success against Pakistan, are just four out of 13.

"We will be a better team this time around. We've looked at ourselves closer than before the last Ashes. We've identified what might have held us back last time," Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said.

England's attention on tour has been shoring up the tailend batting and deciding on two key positions: Geraint Jones or Chris Read at wicketkeeper and between Ashley Giles and Monty Panesar for the left-arm spinner's berth.

Jones appears to have received the imprimatur of coach Duncan Fletcher for the gloves, with incumbent Read yet to appear in a tour game, while James Anderson is expected to fill the third fast bowler's spot behind Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard.

Warne had a dig at the choice of Jones pointing to his suspect wicketkeeping record after spilling seven catches in the last series and looking fallible again on tour with a couple of missed opportunities.

"It's surprising that they'd go back to (Jones). He'll be under enormous pressure. I think it's a known fact that Jones is in the side more for his batting than his 'keeping, which is steady at best," chirped Warne.

Kevin Pietersen has an important role to play in England's batting line-up with his unique brand of audacious shot-making and his battles with the short-pitched quicks and close-friend Warne will be series' highlights.

Australia lost injured all-rounder Shane Watson Tuesday and he has been replaced by batsman Michael Clarke, while England batsman Ian Bell is in doubt with a heavily-bruised left hand after he was struck batting in nets practice.

Ed Joyce, who was called in to replace Trescothick, is on standby after only arriving in Australia last week.

Many of the days' play in the Tests are sell-outs and more than 40,000 British fans are expected to flood the grounds, making for some boisterous banter from the Barmy Army.

There is an air of anticipation about in Brisbane as Ashes cricket returns to the lofty pedestal it once commanded.
Teams
Australia (from): Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Tait, Shane Warne.
England (from): Andrew Flintoff (captain), Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Geraint Jones, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Jimmy Anderson, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar.