PERTH: The build-up to the Ashes series starting Friday began at the end of July 2023 following one of the more acrimonious test cricket series between England and Australia.

Ben Stokes and his England line-up won that test at The Oval in South London but it wasn't enough to reclaim the Ashes from the Aussies, who won the first two tests and drew the fourth in a five-match series to retain the old urn.

Cue to Perth Stadium, Day 1 of a possible 25 spanning seven weeks and five cities.

Stokes knows the record: 13 losses, two draws and no wins in England's last 15 tests Down Under. He's thinking more about the 2010-11 squad that beat the Australians 3-1.

“I've come here absolutely desperate to get home on that plane in January as one of the lucky few captains from England who has come he

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