FINALLY, after all the hype and media speculation the Ashes is upon us.

For the first time in Ashes history the opening test is in Cardiff rather than the home of cricket which has historically resulted in a defeat for England. Perhaps the change in venue will result in a change of fortune?

The teams are very different from those that lined up for the Ashes series in England four years ago. No more will the commentators be muttering the names of Warne, McGrath, and Hayden much to the relief of the England camp. Also missing will be the names of Vaughan, Jones, Hoggard, and Harmison (for now). Instead there are a new crop of cricketers that have been on the circuit for a couple of years now but who have yet to test each other in an Ashes series.

Many of the Australian cricketers come with little experience of playing in English conditions, although by the very nature of their sporting ethos will be just as competitive and aggressive as their former counterparts.

During the week I took the opportunity to talk with Frocester team mate Cavan Ditchman, who has been monitoring the progress of a new breed of Aussies throughout the winter. His players to watch during the series are: Michael Hussey - being a fine player of spin, he has an important role to play at Cardiff in particular, where spin is likely to dominate.

Stuart Clark - An English type seam bowler much like one of his predecessors Paul Reiffel who had a successful campaign back in 1993.

He also thinks swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus will have a part to play especially with the latest setback to Brett Lee and that Phil Hughes will provide some entertainment at some point during the series with his aggressive batting.

His overall prediction to the Ashes series is a 2-1 victory to the Aussies. My heart tends to disagree with this prediction but my head says otherwise.

England are really reliant on the big two of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen to produce some match-winning performances in order to change the course of games if England persist with the squad selected for the first test.

Whatever the outcome, this series is set to be as intriguing as any and is sure to get pulses rising if it is anything like the series in 2005.