The last time England won the Ashes by a margin of four test margin was down under in 1978-79, only losing once in Melbourne during an emphatic 5-1 series victory. If they win the final test at the Oval this weekend England will have completed their biggest ever Ashes victory on home turf and put down a definitive marker of superiority over the Australian side.
With the series already wrapped up, there could be a temptation for England to ease down and take a rest. However, England Captain Alastair Cook has fielded his best side and is determined to make history:
"I think it would be very special to win the Ashes 4-0," he said.
"That is what our motivation is as a side and we are hopefully going to pick the right side - the side that we think can win this Test match. Training has been good the last couple of days and we haven't done anything different, [treating the match] as if it were 1-1 in the series and that was our aim for this week.
"We don't need any more motivation - that is enough for us. To win a Test match for England is big enough motivation and we have a lot of record-breakers in this team. Every time you beat Australia it is a good feeling."
Uniquely this winter offers up the second of back-to-back Ashes series, so it is important that England remain dominant in this final test to strike a psychological blow.
"It will be one of those strange things," Cook added.
"When we get to Australia we will be saying 'what is gone is gone' and it won't make any difference during that first hour in Brisbane.
"But sitting here now, as a side, those little things can make a difference and if we can keep putting Australia under pressure in certain areas of their play then we know that will count well when we go down to Australia. If we can continue winning games of cricket then that is all we can do."
Not only can England create history competing at the Oval with the Ashes in the bag for the first time since the fabled summer of 1981, they also have the opportunity of moving above India to second place in the world test table.
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