Commercial feature - England and Australia have been battling it out in Test cricket matches from as early as March 1877, but the Ashes as we know them today only truly began in 1882, after a shocking and first ever home defeat for England.

A day after the shameful thrashing, a famous mock obituary notice in The Sporting Times effectively said English cricket was in ashes, after which the England captain at the time, Ivo Bligh, promised to regain the Ashes on the following Australian tour in 1882-83. When he succeeded, Bligh was presented with a small urn supposedly containing the ashes of cricket equipment and the name ‘The Ashes’ was born.

Years later, after England’s win in the extremely closely fought and now legendary 2005 series, the Ashes have become even more competitive and regained massive popularity. Australia won back the Ashes in 2006-07, with England regaining them in last year’s 2009 series.

Who will prevail this time around is anyone’s guess, but to see how the two teams have compared statistically from the start of the Ashes in 1882 until last year’s 2009 series, here are some Ashes statistics comparing England VS Australia:

To catch some of the action of what is now one of cricket’s most celebrated rivalries; 2010-2011 Ashes tickets are available to buy online for any of the matches taking place between 25^th November 2010 and 6^th Feb 2011 in Australia. If you don’t fancy a trip down under, there are still countless opportunities to catch some cricketing action in good old Blighty. England cricket tickets for games at Lords and the Oval are on sale now at GetMeIn.com.