Australia dominated England in their last three trips. They won 1989 Ashes series (4-0), 1993 series (4-1) and 1997 series (3-2).

Brief highlights of the last three Ashes series played in England:

1989
Allan Border-led Australia convincingly won the six Test rubber 4-0. Steve Waugh topped the batting averages by scoring 506 runs (avg 126.50) with the help of two hundreds and one fifty. He notched up unbeaten hundreds, 152 not out at Lord's and 177 not out at Leeds. Dean Jones also scored two centuries in the series – 157 and 122. Mark Taylor scored 136 at Leeds. Terry Alderman claimed 41 wickets (avg 17.36), the highest by an Australian in a test series. Geoff Lawson followed with 29 wickets (avg 27.27) and Merv Hughes with 19 wickets (avg 32.36).

For England Robin Smith was the most successful batsman with series aggregate of 553 runs (avg 61.44). Skipper David Gower's contribution in the series was 383 runs (avg 34.81). He scored 106 at Lord's. Allan Lamb scored 125 at Leeds. Neil Foster claimed 12 wickets (at 35.08) and Angus Fraser took 9 wickets (at 9.40).

1993
Shane Warne bowled Mike Gatting with the ball of the century and that set the tone for this series. According to some, Warne's delivery has become more famous in the Ashes archives than Eric Hollies' googly that got rid of Don Bradman for a second ball duck in his final innings.
They won the first test match at Manchester by 179 runs, second at Lord's by an innings and 62 runs, fourth at Leeds by an innings and 148 runs and the fifth at Birmingham by 8 wickets. The third test at Nottingham was drawn. England won the sixth and final test at the Oval by 161 runs. Australia won the series 4-1. Allan Border led Australia and Graham Gooch captained England.

Steve Waugh once again topped batting averages (83.20). Six of their batsmen aggregated over 400 runs in the series. David Boon scored 555 runs (avg 69.37) in the series with three centuries and a 93. Michael Slater scored his maiden test hundred in the second test at Lord's 152 (263 balls) in seven minutes shy of five hours. Ian Healy also made his maiden century (102no) in the first test at Manchester. He was brilliant behind the stumps too with 26 dismissals including five stumpings. Shane Warne's bowling mesmerized the England batsmen and was something to treasure. Merv Hughes also troubled the English batsmen with his pace and aggression.

1997
Mark Taylor led the Australian team on the last trip in 1997 while Mike Atherton led England. Australia won the series 3-2. England won the first test at Birmingham by 9 wickets and the final test at the Oval by 19 runs. The second test match at Lords was drawn. Australia won three successive Tests at Manchester (by 268 runs), at Leeds (by an innings and 61 runs) and at Nottingham (by 264 runs). Glen McGrath and Graham Thorpe were the men of the series for the two teams. Nasser Hussain scored a double century (207) and a century (105) in the series. Steve Waugh scored a hundred in each innings (108 and 116) at Manchester. Graham Thorpe scored 138 and Mark Taylor 129 at Birmingham. McGrath claimed 8 for 38 to dismiss England for one of their lowest totals of 77 in the first innings at Lord's. Matthew Elliott scored 112 for Australia in that match.

Shane Warne claimed 6 for 48 in the first innings at Manchester. At Leeds, man of the match, Jason Gillespie, claimed 7 for 37 in the first innings. Matthew Elliott scored 199 and Ricky Ponting 127 for the tourists. Ian Healy scored 63 and 16 and took seven catches at Nottingham. In the low scoring sixth Test at the Oval, Phil Tufnell claimed 7 for 66 and 4 for 27 in the two innings to guide England to a 19-run win. McGrath claimed 7 for 76 in the first and Michael Kasprowicz took 7 for 36 in the second innings, two noteworthy performances for the visitors in the match.

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