Then sponsorship was alien to the game and the present sponsors npower were not even a twinkle in the

Then, sponsorship was alien to the game and the present sponsors, npower, were not even a twinkle in the eye of their German parent company.And then, England, regardless of abundant optimism in the country, had clung on to the Aussies’ coat-tails, only once gaining a first-innings lead and twice having to fight like tigers for a draw. Then, millions of people did not watch the matches on television because millions of people did not have television, despite the surge in purchases prompted by that summer’s coronation. This year, some 600,000 will have witnessed the games if the last one goes the distance, as it probably will because the weather may well intervene.There are differences. In 1953, those figures were 18 years and 358 days and six series. In both cases a great team were in decline, if not disarray, in both cases nobody could quite believe what was happening.As now, the nation was rapt by events as a team led by a Yorkshireman (Len Hutton then, Michael Vaughan now) started to make the people believe again. For once, the billing is not entirely born of the urge to ignore the past and inflate the status of all current human events.

In this summer’s series three of the matches have been of the sort that you could not take your eyes off while being unbearable to watch at the same time They were compelling without being so close in 1953 Grounds were full and a total of 549,650 watched the series. The Fifth Test of the 2005 Ashes is, at the least, the most significant played by England for 52 years.

By the time it begins, Australia will have held the Ashes for 16 years and 38 days, having won eight consecutive series. Like everybody else in the country, I can hardly wait, and I think the Ashes will come home.. In keeping with modern convention it is natural that the cricket match starting at The Oval on Thursday should be considered the biggest played in this country Ever Full stop.

Players who have not been involved for a couple of years being asked to perform in just one comeback match cannot be the answer. If it comes to it, my preference is to pick somebody who has a future and will be playing for a place.But more than anything else, hope that the oxygen- chamber treatment that Simon Jones is undergoing works. If he is not bang in form, a Test debut in the decisive Ashes match might not be ideal.Another being talked of is Andrew Caddick, but I would not be in favour of that because I don’t think it is the time to be looking back. But he might not necessarily be called up because he has not had much match bowling recently and Hampshire did not pick him the other week, though he played in last week’s game against Warwickshire. Chris Tremlett is the obvious one, because he has been around the squad all summer as 12th man. He has been a huge influence on this series, acting almost as spearhead at second change, and England will have no desire to change their formula now.Of course, they have to make contingency plans in case he does not make it, and I note that several names have been mentioned.

It will not be green, but there are some tufts about on which the seam could grip.Australia have plenty of selection issues, England will be desperate to get Simon Jones fit. The ideal would be to win the toss, put a big total on the board and make it impossible for Australia to win.But losing the toss would not necessarily be a total disaster The pitch offers some assistance early on. It seems that England cannot overtake Australia, but I don’t suppose many people will be taking much notice of that if they hold the Ashes.The Oval has yielded four runs an over in first-class cricket for most of this season, and God knows how many in one-day matches There is no reason to think it will change. Geraint Jones is a thoroughly decent chap with a steel core The worry is that he has iron gloves to match. England can do it, as they have shown in the last three matches, in which they have played the better cricket throughout What they must do is keep one eye on the prize The world championship table is irrelevant. It is probably the biggest cricket match played in this country.