England's bid to regain the Ashes starts at 'Fortress Edgbaston' on Thursday.

The Birmingham venue has provided England with home comforts in recent years and was also the site for their Cricket World Cup semi-final victory over Australia this month.

Stuart Broad and Nathan Lyon are seeking personal milestones, while James Anderson will hope to continue his fine record against David Warner.

We look at the Opta numbers behind the first encounter.

8 - England are on an eight-game unbeaten streak in Tests at Edgbaston, a run that dates back 11 years to a 2008 defeat to South Africa. In total, England have lost only one of their last 14 Tests at Edgbaston, winning 10 and drawing three.

5 - Australia have failed to win any of their previous five Tests on the road - losing four and drawing one - and are on their longest winless run since a nine-match sequence throughout 2013.

4 - Each of the past four Ashes series to take place in England have been won by the hosts, who last tasted defeat to their great rivals on home soil in 2001.

10 - The year 2001 was also when Australia last won a match in any format at Edgbaston, where they are on a 10-game winless run.

95 - Broad is five wickets short of 100 Ashes dismissals. Should he reach the century, he will become the ninth man to do so for England.

9 - Anderson has dismissed Warner on nine occasions in Tests. No bowler has dismissed the opener more often, with India's Ravichandran Ashwin also removing Warner nine times.

104 - With 104 Ashes wickets, Anderson is 24 behind Ian Botham, England's all-time leading wicket-taker against Australia.

343 - Australian Lyon needs seven more victims to become the seventh spinner to reach 350 Test wickets. Only three Australian bowlers - Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee - have attained that figure.