It has only been 3 months since Australia and England took each other on for the Ashes, but the latest sequel to their fabled rivalry is set to be released very soon with the return series in Australia set to start this Thursday in Brisbane.
Unlike previous Ashes series in Australia, there appears to be very little fanfare - perhaps natural given this series is coming so quickly after the last series along with Australia's recent form in test cricket.
*The reason for the back to back series is to prepare for a switch in years so that England and Australia have more time to rest before the Cricket World Cup - fair enough really, given that England have always had a gruelling schedule with the Ashes, Cricket World Cup and home summer back to back.
Indeed, even the normally vocal English crowd are a bit more passive than usual - the strong Aussie dollar hasn't really helped along with tough economic conditions back home.
It is almost like they're expecting their team to win even if the team that beat Australia emphatically last time around 3 summers ago was the first team from the Northern Hemisphere to beat Australia at home since 1987.
Times have definitely changed in cricket and Australia is not really regarded as the team everyone wants to beat and the team is very much one in transition, struggling to find its identity.
It lacks the dominant characters of the past like Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, which made Australian cricket invincible. And they can't even make their mind about the coach - although Darren Lehmann, from the same generation as those aforementioned cricketers, is trying very hard to reinstill the same competitive spirit that has been lost in Australian cricket in recent times.
As for England, they seem to be a team trying to find their best balance but at least they have the personnel in all areas to be on paper better than Australia.
The lessons learnt from the success of 2010-11 have also been taken on board and England have gone from strength to strength as they aim for 4 series wins over Australia in a row.
1st Test, Brisbane, 21-25 November
2nd Test, Adelaide, 5-9 December
3rd Test, Perth, 13-17 December
4th Test, Melbourne, 26-30 December
5th Test, Sydney, 3-7 January
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