This summer could be Michael Atherton's international swansong – and he can think of no better finale to his Test career than a long-awaited Ashes series victory.

The 33-year-old opening batsman has played against the Australians 28 times and finished on the winning side on only four occasions. That record encompasses six series and Atherton has yet to taste the joy of winning the Ashes.

Now he knows that this could be his last chance of realising his dream because it is unlikely that he will still be playing Test cricket when the sides are due to meet again in Australia towards the end of next year.

"If I decide to pack it in, beating the Aussies would be the perfect way to go out," admitted Atherton, who made his debut against them at Trent Bridge in 1989, captained his first Test against them at Edgbaston in 1993 and could make his final international appearance against them at the end of this summer.

"I've said before that I would consider my situation at the end of the season when my contract with Lancashire ends.

"It just depends on how I feel, whether I'm still enthusiastic about the game and whether my back is holding up and it has been feeling okay recently.

"Whichever way I go I don't think I'll ever get to play Australia again so this is it - my last chance to win the Ashes," he conceded.

Atherton's duel with Glenn McGrath is one of a number of eagerly awaited contests that the series will produce. It is a head-to-head that could play a large part in deciding which way the series will go.

But Atherton believes that England have closed the gap on their old rivals in recent times – although he's under no illusions about their talent.

"We're unbeaten in five series and the confidence is high, but Australia are still a very good side and I don't believe their defeat in India is relevant to the Ashes series.

"Our challenge will be to play well and make enough runs against an attack that looks formidable - it won't be just about coping with McGrath because Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie make up a superb trio."

He says this almost with relish as befits a player nicknamed "the cockroach" by the Australians – because they find him so difficult to stamp out.

© CricInfo Ltd.