There is cricket, there is Test cricket, and than there is the Ashes.

I can see your face now, what does he mean by this? Well Bermuda, there are series like West Indies and Sri Lanka or New Zealand and India that are going on right now, and there is the Ashes. International cricket's most celebrated rivalry dating back to 1882.

Even I, an avid cricket fan, really didn't know where or how the Ashes came about, so I looked it up.

After the game in 1882 when Australia beat England on English soil for the first time a British newspaper the Sporting Times wrote that English cricket had died and the body will be cremated and the ashes will be taken back to Australia. Hence, the following tour the English press dubbed the next Test series, "The quest to return the Ashes", as England captain Ivo Bligh vowed to return with the urn.

The Ashes has been played every two years since then, and the original urn in which the Ashes are kept is on permanent display at the MCC Museum at Lord's. Now the England and Wales Cricket Board have enhanced the trophy by making a replica out of Waterford Crystal, to go along with the wooden urn that is to be presented to the winning captain of the five Test series.

As I watched Sky Sports on Wednesday evening, the build up for the start of the Ashes impressed me. The pre-game interviews with captains, players and former players, as well as the video footage of previous Ashes was astonishing.

If you were not interested before then you certainly would be now, as the commercials reminded me of Super Bowl Sunday. Commercials that Wow you…bouncers flying past and hitting guys helmets, stumps being uprooted, diving catches, batsmen hitting first class strokes, I think you get the picture.

Basically, those in charge of hyping up the game, or better still marketing the game, have done a first class job.

England hold the Ashes after beating Australia 2-1 in England last time out. That was probably one of the best Test series I have ever seen. Each game had tension and the games were won or lost by the closest of margins.

Most people are backing England to give Australia a thumping because they are in such good form. England's captain Andrew Strauss has scored back-to-back centuries in the warm-up games, all of England's batsmen are in fine form and their bowlers are firing on all cylinders.

Australia too are probably in their worst form ever as a country, having been swept by Sri Lanka in a One Day Series. However, it is my belief that when it comes to the Ashes current form doesn't matter. Australia have pride and they will not want to be beaten twice on their home soil, especially not when it comes to the Ashes.

This tournament is like our Cup Match but twice as big. When I was younger I remember Clevie Wade having such a poor season that there was actually talk of leaving him out of the Cup Match team, something we in St George's thought could never happen.

St George's did pick him and several people were upset, but I remember it as if it was yesterday, Clevie went on and scored 112 at Wellington Oval blasting Somerset bowlers all over the park. He had a reputation for showing up when it counted the most.

That is how I feel about Australia and this series; they will show up when it counts the most. As I said earlier, the cricket purists think England will win the series 3-1 or 2-1, but I strongly believe this will be a 2-2 series with England retaining the Ashes.

We as a country can learn much from the Ashes in terms of preserving our history and making Cup Match more eye catching. These are the 2000's and we have to sell our game called Cup Match now more than ever before.

In closing I just have one more thing to say. I am an England fan, but I truly hope we do not get bitten from the old cliché, "Form is temporary, class is permanent", and Ricky Ponting and Australia are class, but so too is this England team.

Bring home the Ashes boys!