It is arguably the biggest rivalry in international sport. It’s a meeting that draws worldwide attention, as players compete for a tiny urn.

It’s the famous Ashes cricket rivalry between Australia & England, and the latest installment in the series will begin Wednesday.

Although England are hosting this series, they will enter as considerable underdogs. Prior to the most recent meeting with their archrivals, England had won consecutive series in 2009, 2010-11, and 2013. However, instead of waiting at least a year in between meetings, the two sides met Down Under in 2013-14, with Australia making the most of that short break to whitewash the visitors 5-0. Since then England has had mixed results; they’re hardly the worst Test team in the world, but they haven’t shown signs that they’re ready to be regarded as one of the best again. It’s been nearly three years since South Africa won in England to take away that #1 Test ranking, and with the hosts currently sixth, they have the potential to adopt a nothing-to-lose attitude, which combined with home conditions could lead to favorable results.

Australia have been mostly flying high since that whitewash win, occupying top-three rankings in all three formats of the game. Many of the players on this squad were on the side that won the ODI World Cup in March, and want to replicate at the Test level their emphatic win over England in the CWC group stage. For many stalwarts on the team, like Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, and Shane Watson, this could prove to be their last Ashes series abroad. With legends Glenn McGrath & Shane Warne finishing on the losing side of their final series abroad, expect those on their last flight over here to go after a triumphant chapter to their legacy.

As has been the case since the 2006-07 series, Sky Sports will be the sole live television provider in the UK, and their commentary team made this neat preview video several weeks ago. Who knew David “Bumble” Lloyd has a decent singing voice!

The first Test begins Wednesday in Cardiff, Wales. Expect that first day to be indicative of how that Test, and how the summer, will unfold. Cricket fans should be ready for another exciting ride!

Extra: With 2015 marking ten years since the epic 2005 Ashes series, I’ll be writing posts on a day-by-day basis of how those incredible five matches played in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, and London (again), as England won the urn for the first time in nearly two decades. The first installment comes July 20.

It’s been several days since the United States won its third FIFA Women’s World Cup title, beating Japan 5-2 in a rematch of the 2011 Final. In case you haven’t been able to view highlights yet, I recommend checking out this video uploaded to FIFA’s YouTube channel.

Ever since the ’99ers beat China on the penalties at the Rose Bowl, they have been the standard to which all later USA WWC squads have been measured by. In 2003, with the tournament moved to America at the last minute because of the SARS outbreak in China, the Americans fell to Germany in the semifinals. In 2007, the United States largely cruised to the last four, before Greg Ryan’s controversial decision to bench goalkeeper Hope Solo. The humiliating 4-0 loss to Brazil was overshadowed by Solo’s post-match comments, and Solo would later say in an interview, “(Ryan) made the worst decision in U.S. Soccer history, and he didn’t have to face up to it, because of my comments.”

Four years ago, the U.S. made the final, before losing to Japan on penalties. Sunday, the two nations met again with the Americans getting that emphatic win.

With that win, the 2015 squad will now have its own place in history, and many veterans of the game finally have that elusive World Cup gold medal. Players like Solo, and Abby Wambach, will relish that newfound status. Carli Lloyd, the one teammate that Solo says publicly supported her during the 2007 fiasco, will be revered for her 16-minute hat trick in the final. This team has made a lot of progress in advancing the sport since the Women’s World Cup began in 1991, and will continue to have more success in the future. It’s not too early to consider the U.S. the heavy favorite to win gold at next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Share your thoughts on the Americans’ victory below!