A feast of fun for Test cricket fans as Ashes series approaches REMOTES at the ready. Beers in the fridge. Pies in the microwave. Victorian sport fans are set for a marathon session as our Australian cricket side prepares to do battle against arch rival England, starting tomorrow night. After months of build-up, the five-Test series will be broadcast live in Victoria into the early hours of the morning. And with the Australian team predicted to face an uphill battle to regain the Ashes, experts are warning the English will be buoyed by their other sporting accomplishments - including the recent British and Irish Lions rugby tour. But former Australian Test captain Kim Hughes says the pitch could inspire an unlikely Aussie victory. Hughes, captain of 28 Tests from 1979-84 - including the infamous 1981 Botham Ashes tour series - is not deterred by our inconsistent lead-up to the 67th series. "Australia regularly emerges to prominence when cast as the underdog," Hughes said. The term Ashes is derived from our first successful series win on English soil. No one expects us to get within a bull's roar of this mob. All we can do is get out there (with our) head down (and) tails up and get out there and rock 'n' roll. If our talented bowlers can set the scene early, it can knock the stuffing out of the Poms. Local pubs and bars are rostering extra staff to accommodate a surge of fans before the first Test at Trent Bridge. Popular British retreat the Charles Dickens Tavern expects a bumper throng of patriotic English fans to swell its Collins St establishment, yearning for a glass of its imported ales. "We've had a record month following the Lions tour and we're expecting more British native Melburnians to come through our doors," a Tavern spokeswoman said. Cricket Australia has sold more than double its travel packages, compared with the 2009 English tour. Channel 9, and its digital arm GEM, will broadcast the five Test matches from 8pm.