No visiting team had won an Ashes series and/or retained the Ashes since England defeated Australia 3–1 away in 2010–11. Furthermore, Australia last won an Ashes series in England in 2001. The two teams previously met in one warm-up game and two ODI matches in the Cricket World Cup held in England and Wales in the previous months, with Australia winning the warm-up game at the Rose Bowl by 12 runs and the group stage match convincingly by 64 runs at Lord's. In their semi final rematch, England had their own convincing win by eight wickets with 107 balls to spare, en route to winning the tournament for the first time.