England have not won an Ashes series in Australia since 1987

A gruelling schedule has been fitted in between the Champions Trophy - which ends on 5 November in India - and the World Cup in the Caribbean in March.

There will also be a minimum of eight games in the one-day VB Series - which also features New Zealand - and a Twenty20 game against the Aussies.

England have a one-dayer and two three-day games to prepare for the first Test in Brisbane on 23 November.

Four more Tests take place in Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney, with only one three-day match in between the second and third games.

You have to love the way we send them to Adelaide before a test in Brisbane From T Have your say on TMS

The England and Wales Cricket Board is likely to be criticised for accepting such an intense programme of matches from Cricket Australia.

But director of operations John Carr said the ECB had done its best to limit the burden on England's players.

"It has been a challenge for the two boards to agree a schedule in a relatively tight window between the Champions Trophy and the World Cup," he admitted.

"The schedule is unusual in not providing a one-day warm-up match between the Test and one-day series.

"This step has been taken to ensure there is a minimum of a two-week break between the end of the series and the report date for the World Cup."

The Ashes Test series is shaping up as the biggest sporting event in Australia since the 2000 Olympics Cricket Australia's James Sutherland

The authentic Ashes urn is set to be transported down under, with the blessing of the Marylebone Cricket Club, for the first time since 1988.

And Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland is anticipating unprecedented demand for tickets after England regained the Ashes for the first time in 16 years this summer.

He said: "The level of interest in the entire programme is unbelievable but, in particular, the Test series is shaping up as the biggest sporting event in Australia since the 2000 Olympics."

Despite the congested schedule, Sutherland said there was no pressure to bring the Ashes into line with the majority of other Test series by only playing three or four matches.

"It's a bit of a way of life now with international cricket, there's a real trend towards touring teams coming in and out quite quickly," he commented.

"But I don't see any pressure here for an Ashes series to be anything less than a five-Test series. It's absolutely mandatory with Cricket Australia.

"Rest assured that in the foreseeable future there's absolutely no way that it will be anything but (a five-Test series)."