The earliest, by the way, was three matches ago in the day-nighter against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui. The tension squeezes tighter as the captains emerge, both in their pristine blazers - Ben Stokes in blue and Pat Cummins in green. Castore have released their Ashes clothing range on the eve of the first clash between England and Australia at Edgbaston. If we were surprised, then perhaps we have not been paying close enough attention. Repeatedly Stokes tells us of his commitment to doing whatever it takes to entertain, discomfort the opposition and win in the swiftest fashion. Home advantage makes England slight favourites,” says Morgan. “But Australia are incredibly strong. I see two positives to England’s method: if it works early in the series, it will tempt Australia to change how they play or see them start to question themselves. That can lead to changes in selection, etc.

What can we expect in 2025? Two new captains, probably. Stokes’s body seems highly unlikely to make it to the rematch and the pressure on Cummins’s leadership in the second half of this series was telling. Simon BurntonSpeak to those who have faced the first Ashes salvo and they fall into two camps. Those who say "it's just another ball" and the others that call them bluffers. It could also be the perfect farewell for James Anderson and Stuart Broad, the capping off of two great careers.

Australia face the prospect of some fine batting conditions on Saturday. England can look forward to some hard yakka. Although the pitch seems like a featherbed now, there is a suggestion of low bounce and turn.

At that point, Stokes made his breathtaking intervention, a declaration after 78 overs the earliest in a first innings in Ashes history and third-earliest ever by England.

In 2017-18 he went down under without Stokes because of the Bristol incident. In 2019, Root watched James Anderson limp out of the series after bowling only four overs. On the one hand, it was un-Australian. Not fighting fire with fire, but trying to avoid it by diligently completing a risk assessment. On the other, pragmatism can be seen as a sign of strength, having enough confidence in your team to adapt to the situation.Player of the series There were a couple of superb innings from him, but Stokes’s leadership has been more impressive still. He marshals his players expertly on the field, brings passion and empathy to the role, his side have a real collective mindset and everyone has completely bought in to his vision. The players emerge for their warm-ups, if that's what they are still called. As the crowd slowly builds, England have their football and Australia their Aussie Rules equivalent. All three were first-second punches to the gut by Australia. All three series ended in demoralising English defeat. Rory Burns was bowled by the first ball of the 2021-22 Ashes by Mitchell Starc Joe Root knows a thing or two about Ashes plans after three series captaining England against Australia. England are getting more and more out of the players by asking more of them to take on risk. Changing their method now makes no sense whatsoever.”