About 40,000 travelled Down Under on the last tour in 2002/3

Tickets for the first two days' play sold out within a couple of hours when they went on sale on Wednesday, mirroring the four other Test venues.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said: "We're looking at not only breaking the record on day one, but day two and possibly later days."

The current record stands at 90,800, and was set in 1960-61.

The biggest crowd for an entire Test match is 350,000 - reached when England faced Australia at the MCG in 1936-37.

England won the Ashes for the first time in 18 years last September, which has prompted huge interest in the upcoming series which begins in Brisbane in November.

"It really is an incredible response to what we would be looking forward to as not only a fantastic Boxing Day Test match but also (the) Test series sold out all around the country," Sutherland added.