IT DOES not start for another ten months, but England’s next tour of Australia is already one of the main topics of conversation for a great many people here. Regaining the Ashes is fast becoming an obsession for a country that failed to realise how much they meant until they were lost. The award of MBEs to the entire England team in the New Year’s Honours List (with the exception of Michael Vaughan, the captain, who was appointed OBE), widely reported here, has heightened national determination to wrest back the urn.

Australia’s Test series win over South Africa was greeted enthusiastically enough, but even before the third Test last week, eyes were being cast ahead to November 23 at the first Ashes Test in Brisbane. The whole question of ticket allocation, which was announced overnight by Cricket Australia, has metamorphosed from a non-issue in these parts to a significant consideration. Locals are preparing to buy unusually early to avoid disappointment.

The expected demand is such that the five state associations hosting Tests are each predicting that their aggregate ground records will be broken. That may depend, of course, on whether matches go to a fifth day, but the Melbourne Cricket Club think that the Boxing Day crowd could come close to the new ground capacity of 100,000. The present MCG record stands at 85,661 — against West Indies in 1975-76 — with 72,000 having attended the first day against South Africa last month.

Melbourne CC are not the only ones to be rubbing their hands in anticipation of bumper gate receipts for the fourth Test that starts there on Boxing Day. Dave Gilbert, the former Surrey and Sussex coach who is now chief executive of the New South Wales Cricket Association, believes the SCG’s record crowd since it was reconfigured — 44,500 for Steve Waugh’s farewell Test two years ago — will be beaten for the fifth Test that starts on January 2. Similarly, the Queensland Cricket Association thinks that the Gabba will reach capacity — 45,000 — for a Test match for the first time.

The Waca in Perth has traditionally attracted the smallest crowds of the five leading grounds, but it is tipped to be a 25,000 sell-out for the first four days of the third Test starting on December 14. Tony Dodemaide, the Waca’s chief executive, reports that scores of English residents in the UK are taking out annual “country” membership (at about £60), which includes Test match tickets, a good deal, even with a joining fee of £90. The Adelaide Test, the second in the series starting on December 1, and probably the most social of all, may prove the hardest of the five Tests for England supporters to attend on account of its popularity and a 32,000 ground capacity.

Although a good many Australians feel the Ashes loss will be corrected on home soil, plenty of well-informed observers are less confident. Gilbert, for one, is concerned that Australia could receive “a thumping”, as he puts it. Ashley Mallett, the former Australia off spinner who was one of the few who predicted England’s triumph last summer, has caused some unease with his forecast of 4-1 to England.

What really excites Australians is the prospect of a close contest. Just as it did in England, the gripping nature of the Ashes series, not to mention its notable sportsmanship, has helped to attract a legion of new followers here. “I hardly exaggerate,” John Harry, a Melbourne CC member and former international rower, said, “when I tell you that every Australian male of my age stayed up till 3am to watch the Ashes Tests. The whole of Victoria will want to be at the MCG on Boxing Day.”

The excitement is being fanned by comments by the likes of Michael Parkinson, who spends time here every winter and is popular with Australians. “I think that the Ashes series is going to be one of the biggest sporting events in Australia’s history,” he said. “Unfortunately, my TV recording schedule will prevent me from making the first three Tests, but nothing will stop me from being at the last two.”

WHEN AND WHO THEY PLAY

Nov 10 v Australian Prime Minister’s XI, Canberra

Nov 12-14 v New South Wales, Sydney

Nov 17-19 v South Australia, Adelaide

Nov 23-27 v Australia (first Test), Brisbane

Dec 1-5 v Australia (second Test), Adelaide

Dec 9-10 v Western Australia, Perth

Dec 14-18 v Australia (third Test), Perth

Dec 26-30 v Australia (fourth Test), Melbourne

Jan 2-6 v Australia (fifth Test), Sydney

Jan 9 v Australia (Twenty20), Sydney

Jan 12-Feb 13 VB Series v Australia and New Zealand

Cricket Australia announced details of ticket allocation overnight — for details visit www.cricket.com.au or read The Times tomorrow