England are set to play 10 consecutive Ashes Tests in 2013-14, with the series Down Under brought forward by 12 months.
Unique set of circumstances forces shake-up
England are set to play 10 consecutive Ashes Tests in 2013-14 after Cricket Australia confirmed they intend to move the series forward by 12 months.
England are due to host the next five-Test series in the summer of 2013, with the subsequent tour of Australia usually 18 months later.
But with Australia due to host the 2014-15 World Cup during that time frame, CA have opted to reschedule the Ashes.
"It is our intention to play the series back to back," CA spokesman Peter Young said. "The plan is in place for that so at the moment, it is written in the Future Tours Programme for anyone to see, all that needs to be done is the formalisation of the dates."
There are a number of unique factors that have forced CA to reschedule, in consultation with the England & Wales Cricket Board, including the timing of the 2012 London Olympics.
Olympics clash
A proposal to also push England's home series forward, and maintain the usual 18-month gap, was ruled out because that would clash with the Olympic Games.
Young said that another key factor was the concern that England would be required to tour Australia for five months, a period of time deemed too demanding, if the World Cup and Ashes were played back-to-back.
"England had a fair concern that they would be in Australia for five months and that is just too long for a team to be touring away from their country," Young added.
"It would be a taxing schedule and it could impact on England's ability to play at their peak.
"With the Olympics the year before, which we did not want to compete alongside, we have not had much room to move.
"We say that planning the Future Tours Programme is like playing chess in 3D, it is a very difficult task and at this stage we have had to plan for back-to-back Ashes series."
