England’s Test series with India gets underway on Wednesday, in what will be the country’s 1000th Test match.

From the first Test against Australia in March 1877, to the 999th, against Pakistan earlier this summer, there have been a number of classics.

Yahoo Sport has combed through all of the games and picked out the seven best Tests.

READ MORE: England’s Test record – All the stats as England prepare for their 1000th game

1882 – v Australia at The Oval, lost by seven runs

Where it all began… incongruous perhaps to start with a first ever home defeat, but Australia’s shock two-day victory was the birth of the Ashes. Even WG Grace could not defy the demon Fred Spofforth, with his 14 wickets in the match – and as the satirists published their mock obituary for English cricket, history was made.

1902 – v Australia at The Oval, won by one wicket

England had dominated the early Ashes series. But by the time they reached this fifth Test, the urn was already back in Australia’s possession. The tourists had Victor Trumper at the top of their batting order, but England held the ace with the big-hitting Gilbert Jessop down at number seven. His century rescued their run chase from 48 for five – and Yorkshire pair George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes famously did the rest… ‘nobbut just’, though.

1938 – v Australia at The Oval, won by an innings and 579 runs

Same time, late August, same place – 36 years on – step forward another Yorkshireman. Len Hutton, however, was not just another but first among equals, as his world-record innings of 364 was about to prove. The opener faced 847 balls and batted for 797 minutes before he was finally sixth out in a mammoth 903 for seven declared. It took almost 60 years for any Test team to make more, and it was 20 before Garfield Sobers usurped Hutton with his unbeaten 365. England’s huge margin of victory still stands alone.

1981 – v Australia at Headingley, won by 18 runs

The daddy of them all. Botham’s Ashes did not get started until the third Test of six in Leeds – although what preceded the match is all part of the legend. After a torrid winter in the West Indies, defeat at Trent Bridge and then Ian Botham’s pair in a Lord’s draw, Mike Brearley took over as captain. All went pretty badly for three and a half days – until, in trouble again following on, Botham took over with his unbeaten 149 and Bob Willis capped the most astounding comeback win by taking eight for 43 on the final day.

2000 – v Pakistan in Karachi, won by six wickets

Not the tightest margin of victory, but a win that secured a rare series success in Pakistan, broke the hosts 39-game unbeaten record at Karachi and all done in unbelievable circumstances. Trailing by 17 runs after the first innings, England bowled out Pakistan for 158 second time round and gave themselves a little over three hours, or 44 overs, to chase the target. With the ground descending into darkness, Pakistan taking an age to bowl overs and fielders unable to pick up the ball, Graham Thorpe’s 60* guided England to a famous win.

2005 – v Australia at Edgbaston, won by two runs

Another Ashes epic for the ages, kick-starting a riveting summer which saw Michael Vaughan’s England win back the urn after 18 years. Modern enthusiasts will know all about this one, Andrew Flintoff with his consoling hand on a stooped Brett Lee’s shoulder as the Australian came to terms with his fellow tailender Michael Kasprowicz’s dismissal caught-behind down the leg-side off Steve Harmison. England were level, by very nearly the narrowest of margins, after Australia’s resilience fell short at the last despite putting on 104 runs for their last two wickets.

2012 – v India in Mumbai, won by 10 wickets

Against this summer’s opponents, it was the mercurial Kevin Pietersen and England’s all-time record run-scorer Alastair Cook who both batted brilliantly at the Wankhede Stadium to set up a highly improbable win. England had lost the first Test of four in Ahmedabad by nine wickets, despite a fine Cook rearguard in the second innings. This time, he and Pietersen did the business at their first attempt. In a double-century third-wicket stand, Pietersen especially played one of his greatest innings – reward for Cook’s pragmatic decision to ensure his recall after a vexed summer. Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann then spun India out a second time, precursor to England’s first series win in India since 1984-85.