If you’re an England cricket team, a Test in Sydney doesn’t look so bad. The last few weeks have merited constant updating of England’s horrible streak in Australia since January 1987, which last week’s Melbourne win improved only as far as 51 played, seven won, eight drawn, 36 lost. In Sydney over that time, the calculation is a little friendlier, at 10 played, four drawn, two won, only four lost.

So while the trophy is gone, a strong showing in this match could offer optimism that it might be a springboard for the future. Sydney has a history of involvement in Ashes comebacks, whether within a match, within a series, or in the longer term.

1894 – The first follow-on win

England captain A.E. Stoddart was used to rare feats, but captaining a team back from these depths would have surprised even him. Australia started the series with a bang on a very true Sydney pitch, with 161 for South Australian all-rounder George Giffen backed up by local boy Syd Gregory’s 201, the second double century ever scored.

Australia’s 586 was a monster total, letting Giffen lead the way to bowl out England for 325 and make them follow on. Runs all down the list took England to 437 second time around, but even chasing 177 looked a formality on that surface, and Australia were a comfy 113 for 2 at stumps.

But overnight storms in Sydney meant a soaked pitch before a sunny morning. Not that England knew yet, their players had been out on the town drinking, sure that with 64 to defend the game was lost. The story may not be true that spinner Bobby Peel had to be stuck under the SCG showers to sober up, but he certainly couldn’t be found for some hours that morning, and Australian captain Jack Blackham was too sporting in allowing England a late start, though wet pitches got worse to bat on as they dried. Peel finally showed up in time to take six wickets in a rush, and England won by 10 runs, in a classic series they would eventually take 3-2.

1954 – Harness the winds of the typhoon

As would become tradition, England had come to Brisbane and received a battering to begin the series, with Australia racking up more than 600. No one was afraid of Frank Tyson, a balding schoolteacher whose bowling took 1 for 160.

It looked like going 2-0 in Sydney, with England all out for 154 and Australia banking a lead with 228. But Tyson had started getting his pace up, and England pulled things together in the third innings thanks to a Peter May century, setting a chase of 223. Perhaps more importantly, that batting innings saw Tyson hit in the head by Australian quick Ray Lindwall. Expecting a short-ball barrage in return, several Australian batters waited to play him off the back foot, only for Tyson to pitch the ball up with heat and york them. He took 6 for 85, and would go on to storm through Australia in the next two Tests to claim the series 3-1.

1987 – The start of the dynasty

We mentioned January 1987 in the first paragraph, and yes, this is when the modern run of numbers began. Not that it looked like Australian cricket was on the up, after David Gower’s England had won the urn by leading 2-0 with a match to spare. Dean Jones had a point to prove, having held his spot after his epic 210 not out in Chennai a few months earlier, but having never made a hundred at home. Batting first drop, he blazed a correction with 184 not out.

The other man with a point to prove – on behalf of the selectors, anyway – was Peter Taylor, an off-spinner in his 30s who had played only half a dozen matches for New South Wales. He repaid the faith, not just with 6 for 78 when he had his first chance to bowl, but playing stubborn knocks at No 9, supporting Jones in the first innings and Steve Waugh in the third.

By the fourth, England had been set a hefty 320 to win. Taylor added a couple more wickets, but Mike Gatting steadied the innings and then set after the target. Only 87 more were needed to win that Waugh drew a return catch from Gatting on 96, and overcoming some stonewalling from England’s lower order, Taylor’s spin partner Peter Sleep ended up with 5 for 72. Waugh would go on to be the defining player in Australia’s period of dominance, starting with his run-filled tour of England in 1989.

2003 – The start of the epic

It didn’t last as long, but a similar shift in fortunes for England started in January 2003. The preceding series had been torrid, 3-0 down in 11 days if that sounds familiar. But while that England team didn’t win the fourth Test in Melbourne, the resistance started there. Forced to follow on, opener Michael Vaughan countered with an aggressive 145 with support through the order, setting up a lead rather than losing by an innings. The target was only 107, but Australia stumbled while getting it, five wickets down.

More importantly, England had forced the Aussie bowling attack to back up 90 overs with 121 more in consecutive innings. Then after only two days off between Tests, England won the toss in Sydney and asked the Australians to bowl again, keeping them in the field for 127 overs. Glenn McGrath pulled out injured before the game, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee were footsore, and spinner Stuart MacGill bowled 128 overs of spin across those three innings.

So even though Australia took a one-run lead after batting in Sydney, thanks to Waugh’s famous century from the last ball of Day 2, the bowlers were cooked for the third innings. Gillespie went down injured while England made 452, Vaughan going even bigger this time with 183, before Andy Caddick bowled out Australia on the last day to win. Not many of that team were still around 18 months later, when England went toe-to-toe with the champions in the famous 2005 series. But by then Vaughan had become captain, a leader who had seen up close that the Australians could be challenged and beaten. England’s belief of 2005 had its genesis in Sydney.