Ben Stokes's side must create history to fight back from 2-0 down to regain the urn, starting with victory in the third Test in Adelaide beginning on Wednesday.
Only once has a team come from 2-0 down to win an Ashes series - that being Don Bradman's Australian side in 1936-37.
But the battle facing England is even more significant when considering their last Test victory in Australia was way back in January 2011.
The tourists' winless run in the country, which now sits at 5458 days, is officially the longest in their history after overtaking a drought between 1936 and 1951.
In that instance, it was partly due to the break created by World War II, and the manner in which England were weakened afterwards.
England insist they remain in the hunt to win this series, pointing back at the fact they drew 2-2 from 2-0 down at home in 2023.
But in that instance, the first two Tests were close. This time around, Stokes's men were beaten by eight wickets on both occasions.
England's batting remains under the spotlight with their aggressive approach having not worked in the first two Tests on bouncier wickets.
It comes as Harry Brook conceded this week the team may need to "rein it in a little bit", conceding some of the shots he played to get out had been "shocking".
That in itself has raised the prospect of an England side potentially caught in two minds with the bat against an Australian team that has Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon returning.
"That'd be great if they're kind of trying to find their way out there," Cummins said, when asked about the prospect on Tuesday.
"I've honestly got no idea (how they'll play it). I think that is one of the difficulties of travelling overseas is trying to find a tempo and a method that works.
"The way (Mitchell Starc)'s bowled and been able to kind consistently take wickets. It's been great.
"That's what your hope is. Players come over here and you can nick them off like they have been."
Other questions also remain around England's bowling.
The tourists have dropped Gus Atkinson for Adelaide and brought in Josh Tongue, with Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer and Stokes the other quicks.
Notably Shoaib Bashir has again been overlooked after years of preparing him to be the spinner for this series with his height allowing him to make use of bouncier pitches.
"It's obviously disappointing for Bash to not be able to get the opportunity later on in the series where he thought he was going to," Stokes said.
"But we didn't think we would be in the situation of 2-0 down, needing to win the three.
"We are where we are, we feel like big runs and wickets are just as important as each other in this part of the series."
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