The tour every England player wants to be on, even to carry the drinks, begins next month and all eyes will be on Lord's come Monday lunchtime as the Ashes squad for the 2013/14 series Down Under is unveiled by the selectors.
Graeme Mair
Cook (capt), Root, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Compton, Prior (wkt), Buttler (wkt), Stokes, Broad, Anderson, Bresnan, Finn, Tremlett, Swann, Panesar.
England's form in Test cricket over the past couple of years means the bulk of the touring party picks itself, the only question marks concern who provides cover in each area and the overall balance of the squad.
Despite being dumped ahead of the last Ashes series, Somerset's Nick Compton should travel as the spare batsman.
He has been the best performer in Division One of the County Championship for some time, can bat anywhere in the top six and was only dropped because Joe Root made an irresistible case for promotion up the order.
Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes is worth taking a chance on as an investment for the future.
Stokes can bat in the middle order, bowl quick and would be the best fielder in the squad. He was sent home from the England Lions' tour last winter for disciplinary reasons - along with his room-mate Matt Coles - so there are doubts about his maturity.
But England have moved on from that by picking him in the one-dayers against Australia at the tail-end of this summer where he improved as the series progressed.
Another player to have shown what he can do in ODIs is Jos Buttler. You can make the case for Steven Davies, Craig Kieswetter or Jonny Bairstow as the back-up wicketkeeper.
All have strengths and weaknesses - there is little difference in the quality of their glovework - and Buttler looks like the best batsman of the lot and would provide a fifth option for the troublesome No 6 role from within the squad (along with Compton, Root, Stokes and Prior).
In addition to England's first-choice attack (Broad, Anderson, Bresnan and Swann), there is room for three more bowlers, two seamers and a spinner.
Steven Finn, Chris Tremlett and Monty Panesar would be my choices. Finn offers pace and experience of the conditions, while the one decision that gave me a sleepless night was picking Tremlett ahead of Boyd Rankin.
Tremlett starred in Australia last time and, despite his injury problems since, his eight-wicket haul for Surrey against Durham last month is enough for him to edge out Rankin, who looked the part during the recent one-dayers.
Panesar has had his problems on and off the field this summer but every effort should be made to made to get him fit - physically and mentally - for what would be his third Ashes tour given the only viable alternative is James Tredwell.
Rankin, Graham Onions and Bairstow are the only players who could consider themselves unlucky to miss out but all three would be on hand as part of the Performance squad in case of injuries.
Rob Lancaster (@SkySportsLanny)
Cook (capt), Root, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Stokes, Carberry, Prior (wkt), Bairstow (wkt), Broad, Swann, Anderson, Bresnan, Panesar, Finn, Tremlett.
You would think that picking England's 16 to head off Down Under to try and retain the urn would be relatively easy. After all, bar the number six position and one spot for a seamer, the rest of the starting line-up for Brisbane (and beyond) looks set.
The two questions Geoff Miller and his band of merry men will have to answer over the first-choice XI are: 1-Who bats at six? 2-Who is the third seamer alongside Anderson and Broad?
Tim Bresnan seems the obvious choice, fitness permitting, to answer the second of those conundrums, but while he's in my squad he's not necessarily who I'd select at the Gabba.
Steve Finn is in my party for his potential, though consistency needs to come along fairly soon if he is to make the most of his obvious talents. Where Anderson was once a 'daisy' bowler (some days he does, some days he doesn't), now that seems to be nickname perfect to summarise Finn.
To add pace and bounce I'd go with Chris Tremlett, who gets the nod for his Ashes experiences in Australia last time around. Boyd Rankin is the other option to fill that role and while he looks a Test cricketer of the future, there are still some rough edges that need to be smoothed out.
Jos Buttler could soon become Matt Prior's heir apparent, but throwing him in for a Test debut should England's first-choice wicketkeeper suddenly go down seems too risky. While Jonny Bairstow hasn't donned the gloves in the longest form of the game so far, such a task wouldn't faze him.
Bairstow gives an option to bat six, too. England used Chris Woakes there in final Ashes Test of the summer, making it a five-man bowling attack for captain Cook. However, Ben Stokes is the better option for such a role. He showed he has a yard of pace in the NatWest Series and would also offer a left-hand option in the middle order. Perhaps it's the fair skin and light-coloured hair, perhaps it's that he's got some Kiwi in him, but there's also something to like about Stokes' fighting spirit.
The other batting berth would, therefore, be best served by a back-up opener. Michael Carberry didn't suggest in the recent one-dayers that he is a long-term 50-over option for England. He seemed a little limited in his shot-making. In Tests, however, he doesn't need to play a 360-degree game. His technique looks solid if unspectacular and he'd be a fine understudy to Cook and Root.
As for the spare spinner, it seems to be the spot nobody has wanted to take up. Poor Monty has had off-field issues during the summer (do nightclubs in Australia have balconies?) while poor, poor Simon Kerrigan got a terrible case of stage fright at the Oval.
That seemed to be paving the way for James Tredwell, the one-day understudy who had seemingly left in front of Swann in the pecking order, to make a late charge from the departure lounge. Sadly, though, Australia cruelly dealt with Tredwell in such a fashion in the NatWest Series that it's seen him miss my final boarding call.
Monty, you're back in. Now behave yourself, there's a good lad.
