But Strauss played down the incident and told reporters: “Freddie has settled in brilliantly and is very motivated to play well.  “It’s great to see him with the bit between his teeth – he feels as though he has some unfinished business.”  While the likes of Strauss, Kevin Pietersen and Flintoff remain from the side that triumphed four years ago, at least five players – Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad and Graham Onions – could be making their Ashes debuts here at Sophia Gardens.  Since Strauss was thrust into the captaincy in January, after Pietersen’s falling out with then coach Peter Moores, England have lost a series in the Caribbean and beaten a poor West Indies team at home earlier this season.  Strauss, who has repeatedly emphasised the importance of keeping a cool head, told reporters: “There’s not going to be any massive Churchillian speeches from me.  “The key to the series is how you handle those pressure moments and there are going to be plenty of them.”  Strauss, turning to his team, added: “All 11 of them have shown before that they can handle those situations.  “An Ashes series is slightly different and we’ve only got probably half our team that have played in an Ashes series before.  “But the guys that have come in have an opportunity to show they can do it in an Ashes series and I’ve got very few concerns in my own head that there are any weak links and that’s encouraging.”  He added: “We know the type of cricket we need to play against Australia: we need to go toe to toe with them and look them in the eye.  “They have lost a few players with a bit of aura about them.  “It might not be as intimidating as it used to be but we are ready for some hard cricket.”  While Australia fast bowler Brett Lee has been ruled out of the first Test with a rib injury, England so far have no fitness problems.  Their major selection decision appears to be whether to go in with two spinners in Swann and Monty Panesar or leave one of them, most probably Panesar, out and instead opt for Onions as an additional seamer.  Strauss, who confirmed England would not name their side until Wednesday’s toss said he was not concerned by Panesar’s lacklustre county form in the build-up to this match.  “Monty is a very good Test bowler,” he said.  “There is something about being back in the England fold that switches on a light for him. I am very happy with where he is.”  Meanwhile, Strauss said they could not wait to get started.  “The guys are chomping at the bit to get out there and play now.  “We have to handle the pressure well and play well, and if we do that we have the raw material to win the Test match.”

It was actually a defeat that gave birth to the Ashes. It was at the Oval on 29th August, 1882 that England lost to Australia for the first time on English soil. The one-off Test at Oval was one of the most fascinating matches of all times, which ended with a seven-run defeat of England. The shocking defeat inspired a young journalist Reginald Shirley Brook to write a mock obituary of English cricket in a London newspaper The Sporting Times.

“In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at The Oval, 29th August, 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances, RIP. NB —  The body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia,”

he wrote.

Three weeks after the famous defeat Hon. Ivo Bligh, afterwards Lord Darnley, led the English team to Australia with a mission to reclaim the Ashes.He promised that he would regain “the ashes” on the tour to Australia in 1882–83.Though England lost the first Test by nine wickets, they went on to win the next two of the three-Test series.

It is generally believed that a group of Victorian ladies, including Florence Morphy (who later married Ivo Bligh), gave a small terracotta urn as a present to Ivo Bligh after a private cricket match was played over Christmas in 1882. The English team were guests of Sir William Clarke at his property “Rupertswood”, in Sunbury, Victoria. This was before the three Test matches were played.

During the tour of Australia in 2006/7, the MCC official accompanying the urn confirmed that the urn contains the ashes of a cricket bail. The terracotta urn is about six inches tall and originally could have been a perfume jar.

Florence, widow of Ivo Bligh, gave the urn to MCC after his death in 1927. The historic urn can be seen in the cricket museum at Lord’s along with the scorecard of the 1882 match at the Oval.

The text on the urn is as follows:-

When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;
And the rest coming home with the urn.

However, the Ashes — the most famous traditional rivalry in cricket — is a concept that actually dates back from 1903, when English captain Pelham Warner led a team to Australia with the promise that he would regain “the ashes”, in a manner similar to Hon. Ivo Bligh back in 1882.

Warner’s promise caught the imagination of Australian media, which latched onto the term, and, this time it stuck. However, the term “The Ashes” first found mention in the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack only in 1905, while the Wisden’s first account of it was included only in the 1922 edition.

So far, 316 Tests have been played between the two nations out of which Australia have won 131. England have registered 97 victories, while 88 Tests have ended in a draw.