"It would have killed me if I had drunk like Freddie Flintoff."

Quote of the day
"There was never any talk of an open top bus parade or a trip to Downing Street. Yes, I suppose I was envious of the celebrations Michael Vaughan’s team enjoyed in central London, but we never expected anything like that. Anyway, it would have killed me if I had drunk like Freddie Flintoff." England's 1985 Ashes-winning captain David Gower.

Random Ashes fact

Sir Len Hutton's 364 at The Oval in 1938 remains the highest individual score in Ashes history. The England opener's marathon innings lasted 797 minutes and included 35 fours as the home side posted a formidable first-innings total of 903-7 declared. England won the match by the massive margin of an innings and 579 runs.

Magic numbers

22 days to go before The Ashes and 22 is the number of Test centuries scored by Australian opener Justin Langer. Four of his hundreds have been made against England, including a memorable 250 at Melbourne in 2002. In all, the Perth-born left-hander has struck 7,393 Test runs at 45.35.