Although the English had been well beaten on home soil 18 months earlier, the team that toured Australia 18 months later had high hopes of regaining the Ashes. They had played well in the intervening time, beating both India and New Zealand at home, and seemed to have a settled side at last. The warm-up matches, too, had gone well.
It took until the first Test match, at the Gabba, Brisbane for those illusions to be quickly dispelled.
Australia won the toss and invited the tourists to bat. David Gower made 61, but the next highest score was 32, from the man who succeeded him as captain, Allan Lamb, as England were dismissed for 194. Bruce Reid took 4-53, while there were three wickets for Merv Hughes.
England, though, did well with the ball, with Angus Fraser, Gladstone Small, and Chris Lewis all taking three wickets apiece as they bowled out Australia for just 152.
England, in turn, were then dismissed for just 114, not for the first time finding the accuracy of Terry Alderman too much. He took 6-47, putting Australia in a position where they just needed 157 to win. The opening pair of Mark Taylor (67*) and Geoff Marsh (72*) managed it on their own.
The margin of victory in the second Test, at the MCG, Melbourne was almost as emphatic.
This time it was England’s turn to win the toss, with Graham Gooch taking over as captain as Lamb was injured. They batted, Gower again leading the way with exactly 100, finding support from Alec Stewart (79), and Wayne Larkins (64), as they made 350. Reid took 6-67.
In reply, Australia were dismissed for 306, the principal contributors to their total being captain Allan Border, who made 62, and Taylor, with 61. Fraser was the best of the English bowlers with 6-82.
However, yet again England failed in their second innings, and they were bowled out for 152, Reid taking 7-51 to finish with match figures of 13-118.
It meant that Australia were left needing 197 to win, and David Boon’s unbeaten 94 helped them reach the winning target with eight wickets in hand.