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So this Ashes is a big deal, is it?
As the oldest rivalry in cricket (yes, we are deliberately overlooking USA vs Canada) the Ashes is always a big deal. But the 2025-26 series has been amped up to what feels like a new level – and this despite England’s woeful record in Australia, which reads P15 W0 L13 over their last three tours of the country.Why’s everyone so excited then?
There are a number of factors at play. Foremost is the style of cricket England have adopted – dubbed “Bazball” by one of ESPNcricinfo’s own – and the sense that they will come and have a go in a manner than few English teams in Australia have managed this century. There is also the hangover from the last Ashes, in England in 2023, which ended 2-2 but sparked all sorts of back-and-forth over “moral victories” and who really came out on top.Related

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They didn’t manage to Bazball Australia at home, then?
No, but they did come back from 2-0 down, and were arguably only denied victory in the series by rain in Manchester. But let’s not go over all that again. England have been planning for the next campaign down under ever since, and have assembled what might be their fastest-ever bowling attack in a bid to win in Australia for the first time since 2010-11.So should Australia be worried?
Not on the face of it, given England have rarely even come close to winning a Test in the (Un)Lucky Country in the intervening period – and have particularly painful memories of a grueling visit, wreathed in Covid regulations, in 2021-22. Australia, meanwhile, have won five of their last seven Test series, including four in a row, and last experienced defeat in India in 2022-23. At home, they haven’t been beaten since 2020-21 (again by India). They also reached the final of the World Test Championship, although lost out on the mace to South Africa.I sense a ‘but’ coming here…
You guessed it. But Australia, who have picked a squad with only one player under the age of 30, are in the rare position of having significant question marks over their XI. Notably, it looks like they will field a debutant opener, while the man at the other end, Usman Khawaja, might be on borrowed time. They have also been beset by untimely injuries: captain, Pat Cummins, will miss the first Test as he continues to rehab from a back stress reaction, while another of Australia’s “Big Three” seam attack, Josh Hazlewood, is out with a hamstring strain.All eyes are on when Pat Cummins could play a role in the Ashes•Getty Images

So England will be taking on a weakened opposition?
On paper, yes, although Scott Boland (Test bowling average in Australia: 12.63) is a more than capable back-up for Cummins, while Brendan Doggett, another likely debutant, has both form and pedigree after his long wait for a baggy green. Steven Smith won’t miss a beat as stand-in captain, either. Whether this is the “worst Australia side since 2010-11” is up for debate, but their selection quandaries have certainly added to the intrigue around the build-up.Ah yes, the old ‘phoney war’…
As daft as ever, and impossible to get away from. But at least it’s almost time to take out the trash talk.Any other reasons for optimistic Englishmen to stay up through the night?
Well, Australian pitches have certainly made for entertaining viewing over recent seasons and might help level the playing field. Whether England have brought the right attack for the conditions is another debate.Will this be Joe Root’s Ashes?•Getty Images

They do arrive with the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked Test batters, Joe Root and Harry Brook (the latter for the first major Test of his supreme away record), as well as a fit Ben Stokes, after a shoulder tear sustained during the English summer. They’ve been lucky with injuries (so far), with Mark Wood surviving his own hamstring-knack scare over the weekend. And the only major talking point around their batting order – the identity of No. 3 – was put to bed during the warm-up game against England Lions by Ollie Pope making scores of 100 and 90.All aboard the Bazball bus, then!
At least until the wheels fall off. The series starts in Perth, where England have only ever won once (at the old WACA Ground) – with Optus Stadium hosting an Ashes Test for the first time. Then it’s on to the pink-ball day-night game at the Gabba in Brisbane, followed by Adelaide, which last hosted England for a daytime Test in 2013-14. If the Ashes are still alive come the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, we should have a series on our hands.Sounds like the chances are good?
Let’s see. It’s certainly their best shot in a long while. At the very least, it’s to be hoped that England won’t have conceded the contest inside 12 days’ cricket.Fingers crossed! Anything else I should know?
Regardless of whether England can be competitive/win a Test/not suffer complete embarrassment, let’s hope that Root finally scores a hundred on Australia soil. Otherwise Matthew Hayden’s middle stump is going for a walk – and not in the good way.

Mark Wood is set to miss the second Test at Brisbane as England look to preserve their prized fast bowler for the remainder of the Ashes.Wood was part of an all-pace attack in the opening Test at Perth, his first competitive appearance in close to nine months after returning from knee surgery in March that addressed medial ligament damage. It was also his first Test cap since August 2024, against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford.England’s caution around Wood is understandable. At his best, he is the fastest bowler in the world. But his injury history, including recent troubles with his left knee, which requires heavy strapping, and the fact he turns 36 in January means they must constantly monitor his situation.Related

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Speaking to Fox Cricket during the opening Test in Perth, Wood conceded he would “definitely not play five”.Wood was a doubt ahead of the first Test, having reported tightness in his left hamstring the week before at Lilac Hill after sending down eight overs – two four-over bursts – during the warm-up match against England Lions. He subsequently proved his fitness in the Perth Stadium nets, and bowled with great pace on the first day, clocking Cameron Green in the grille with a brutal 93mph/150kph bouncer.England’s defeat in Perth was swift enough that the match lasted only two days, with Wood bowling just 11 overs altogether, returning 0 for 44. Three of those came in the second innings as Travis Head’s bombastic century ensured Australia achieved their target of 205 in 28.2 overs.Conspicuous by his absence from England’s first training session at Allan Border Field on Saturday ahead of Thursday’s pink-ball Test, it appears Wood is being held back as the tourists seek to bounce back from going 1-0 down. Provided there are no complications, Wood could be back in contention for the third Test in Adelaide, which begins in 18 days.1:10

Ferguson: England didn’t challenge Head’s stumps enough

Wood was England’s best bowler on show on the 2021-22 tour (17 wickets at 26.64) and he took nine wickets in final Test at Hobart – England’s last pink-ball match in Australia. Nevertheless, he will be parked this week, with Josh Tongue likeliest to take his spot.Tongue is in prime position to state his case this weekend as part of a Lions side taking on the Prime Minister’s XI in a two-day pink-ball match in Canberra. Tongue is one of three Ashes squad members, along with Matthew Potts and Jacob Bethell, who have been released to take part in the match. While Potts will also be considered to replace Wood, Tongue’s extra pace, steepling bounce and knack of bowling the odd worldie has him front of the queue.Wood admitted to being emotional after the eight-wicket defeat in Perth, even looking into camper vans to drive across the country from Western Australia to Queensland so as not to stew during the extra time off. Speaking on Saturday, Test captain Ben Stokes understood where his long-time friend was coming from.Josh Tongue will likely head the queue to be Mark Wood’s replacement•Getty Images

“He’s so passionate about what he does, some people take disappointment different to others,” Stokes said. “I’ve known Woody a long time, we’re good mates, not just because we play cricket together. He’s just as disappointed as anyone else in the dressing room, we’ve reflected this week, we’ve done all that and now we’re focused on what we’ve got to do here in Brisbane.”Meanwhile, Stokes admitted he was “completely wrong” to refer to former players as “has-beens”. Prior to the first Test, Stokes used the latter term when searching for the former after England’s preparations for the Ashes had come under fire for amounting to a single, three-day warm-up match against the Lions at Lilac Hill.Sir Ian Botham, Graham Gooch and Michael Atherton were three former England captains to take issue with the light lead-in to the series, with Michael Vaughan using his column in the to take umbrage with the comments. Asked if he regretted them, Stokes said: “You know exactly what I meant by that. Everyone knows it was a slip of the tongue.”I’ve explained that off record. I got the words I said there completely wrong. I think everyone knows that, I just never got asked about it on camera for me to say I got my words wrong. ‘Has-beens’ is a horrible word. It’s the only thing that managed to come out of my mouth in that moment.”God, I’m going to be one of those one day. It’s a complete wrong wording and I think everyone does know that it’s not at all what I meant by that.”

Mitchell Starc believes Pat Cummins won’t need much preparation to play in the first Ashes Test in Perth, saying the skipper remains upbeat despite not yet being cleared to bowl with six weeks to go before the series starts.Doubts are growing over Cummins’ availability for the first Test of the Ashes as he continues to rehab the hot spot in his lower back having not bowled a ball since Australia’s last Test against West Indies in July.While it is understood that Cricket Australia has made no decisions on Cummins’ return to bowling and his availability for the first Test of the Ashes and beyond, the tightness of the timeline for the skipper to build-up his bowling loads adequately has become a major talking point.Related

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Starc, who will return to the BBL for the first time in 11 years in the upcoming season, believes Cummins is so unique that he could play a Test match off very limited preparation.”Playing with Pat and being close with Pat, he doesn’t need much,” Starc said. “Whether he bowls three warm-up balls and the first over the game, he’s on the money, he just knows when to switch on or how to switch on really quickly. So what it looks like for him in his prep, it’s going to be certainly different to what mine feels and looks like, and that comes with experience and age.”Having spent so much time with Josh [Hazlewood] and Pat and myself and Scotty [Boland], we all prepare slightly differently. We all feel like we need different things. I feel like at times I need to bowl more around preparation stuff, whether it be training or after layoffs.”Starc has returned to bowling ahead of the ODI series against India after a lengthy pre-season having not played since the Caribbean Test tour. Both Starc and Hazlewood are also set to play in New South Wales’ round four Sheffield Shield match against Victoria at the SCG from November 10-13 in preparation for the first Ashes Test which starts on November 21 in Perth.Starc said he had been in touch with Cummins but had seen less of him since returning to NSW training as the skipper continues to do his gym rehab.Mitchell Starc expects Steven Smith to be “the logical choice” to lead if Pat Cummins isn’t fit•BCCI

“He’s in good spirits,” Starc said. “He’s ultra-positive as always, and there’s still some weeks to go before we get to Perth for the Test prep. So we’ll see where that lands. Hopefully we see a lot of him through the summer, and we’ll see where we get to in Perth.”If Cummins were to be ruled out, the question of who replaces him as captain will be raised but Starc said Steven Smith would be the logical choice given he has captained Australia in 40 Test matches including deputising for Cummins in six over the last four years.”We’ve got a group of us that have played cricket with Steve as captain anyway,” Starc said. “And then the times that he’s filled in over the last few seasons for Pat, whether it be for personal reasons, for illness or for injury, it’s an easy transition for Steve. He’s obviously a very experienced cricket brain and thinks heavily about the game, and we have a team of experienced guys that can give their two cents worth along the journey as well.”Cummins’ potential absence has also raised questions about Australia’s fast-bowling depth beyond the big four of Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Boland.Starc cited Michael Neser and Sean Abbott as two experienced options and also mentioned another man who has played for Australia previously and took five wickets in an Ashes game in his most recent Test appearance.”There’s been a little bit of noise around Jhye Richardson coming back from his shoulder as well,” Starc said. “We know what skills he has. We’ve got a fairly talented group of 19-20-year-old bowlers, and then a lot of depth from there up to us that have played a lot of domestic cricket. I think the depth is there.”Richardson, speaking at another BBL event in Melbourne on Thursday, was confident he could play a Test this summer if required despite still progressing his bowling in the nets following shoulder surgery earlier this year.Jhye Richardson last played a Test match in December 2021•AFP/Getty Images

“I think so,” Richardson said. “Body’s really good. At this stage of the recovery what we wanted was for everything else to be right, and the only limiting factor to be my shoulder, which is the case at the moment, which is really good. I’m bowling off a full run, just waiting for a bit of ball speed to come back, which I think is a pretty good position to be in this time of year, or what we were hoping for anyway.”There’s no specific timeline in place at the moment, but I think returning to some sort of competitive cricket, whether it’s club cricket or second XI [for Western Australia] sometime in November I think would be a good start, and then build up from there, and then see where it takes us.”Richardson revealed he was still only bowling at speeds in the low 120s but expected the speed to come with more mobility and confidence in the shoulder, having been through the process before after previous shoulder surgeries. He is hoping to play round five or six of the Sheffield Shield, with WA’s two games starting on November 22 and December 4 respectively.”You never really know how linear the process is going to be,” Richardson said. “I think at the start of the year, we were sort of speaking around that [round] five or six mark leading into the Big Bash and potentially back-end Ashes.”But I don’t want to think too far ahead.”

Cricket Australia will trial an injury replacement rule in the first five rounds of this season’s Sheffield Shield competition, and allow the opposition to make a corresponding substitution, with a view to passing on the findings to the ICC as discussions continue about the introduction of injury substitutes in Test cricket.CA has communicated with the six state teams in recent weeks, outlining the details of the rule which will be implemented across the first half of the season, which starts on Saturday. It will differ significantly from the “serious injury replacement substitute” rule the BCCI has brought into India’s domestic first-class competition recently.The Australian version has been designed with the aim of covering all injuries, preventing fit fast bowlers from being overloaded for the remainder of the match if they lose a fast-bowling mate early in the game, and to maintain competitive balance within matches while trying to avoid any manipulation.Related

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• BCCI introduces 'serious injury replacement substitute' rule in multi-day competitions

Currently, teams can make unlimited concussion substitutions across all four days of a Shield game – and that will remain unchanged – but under the trial there will be an additional like-for-like injury replacement available to both teams up until stumps on day two.Teams will be allowed to replace any player with another player of the same skill set (for example, a fast bowler for a fast bowler, a batter for a batter, a spinner for a spinner) as a result of any injury or illness that has occurred from any point after the toss. Teams will need to make a request to the match referee, who will determine the legitimacy of the injury and approve the replacement.This differs from the BCCI rule, which dictates the injury has to have happened during the game and needs to be external (like taking a blow resulting in a deep cut or fracture) rather than internal (like a hamstring strain).The issue was in the spotlight during the recent England-India Test series where both sides had players suffer significant external injuries: Rishabh Pant with a fractured foot at Old Trafford and Chris Woakes with a dislocated shoulder at The Oval.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

An interesting element to what CA is introducing is the ability for the opposition to match a substitution. If a team uses the injury replacement rule, the opposition will be allowed to bring in a “tactical substitute” in response by the close of day two. But that substitute must be the same type of player as was injured in the opposition.For example, in the round one clash this week between Western Australia and New South Wales at the WACA ground, if a WA fast bowler was injured and was replaced by another WA fast bowler, NSW could make a tactical substitution but could only swap out a fast bowler for a fast bowler. They could not make a tactical substitution like swapping a batter for a batter because of form in the first innings.The match referee can also put restrictions on the involvement of both replacement players. A batter may be instructed that they cannot bowl if they are replacing a batter who does not regularly bowl. The replacement players also automatically inherit any warnings that have been imposed on the replaced player, such as for running on the pitch.Another key element is that in the case of the player who is ruled out through injury or illness, they will undergo a mandatory 12-day non-playing period that starts from the second day of the match that they were subbed out of.This means that if a player were to be replaced for injury in the first two days of round one, their non-playing period would start from October 5, meaning they would not be eligible to play in the One-Day Cup matches on October 9 or the second Shield round, which begins on October 15.There is a slight wrinkle for the states to manage in that teams will only initially be permitted to travel with 12 players, as has been the norm in Australian domestic cricket for many years, with the exception being Western Australia or teams travelling to Western Australia due to the length of that flight and the difficulty in getting other reserve players there on short notice. WA, when they travel interstate, and teams who travel to WA, are permitted to have a squad of 13.Teams who are playing away from home on the east coast will be able to fly an injury replacement in at short notice if needed on the first two days of a game if the 12th man is not a like for like. The states have been encouraged to carry a spare fast bowler as the 12th player on most occasions as the majority of replacements will be to fast bowlers based off the injury data CA has used to help form this new rule. CA wanted to avoid teams carrying large squads unnecessarily.The ICC has agreed that all matches during the trial period will retain first-class status. During the first five rounds, CA will be sourcing feedback from the states on the success of the trial and it is leaving open the possibility of continuing it further into round six and or round seven. CA will also look at potential alterations to the trial from round seven onwards or cancelling it altogether.

The PCB has not awarded its most prestigious category A contracts to any Pakistan player for the 2025-26 season. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan – the only two players in category A last season – have been demoted to B.Pakistan’s Test captain Shan Masood, who was in the B category last year, is now in D, with ten players in each tier; this means the total number of centrally contracted players has increased from 27 to 30. Fakhar Zaman, who missed out on a central contract for the first time in eight years in 2024 amid disciplinary hearings, is back in category B.The decision to place no player in the highest category has been attributed to performance. ESPNcricinfo was told the team’s performance “did not lend favour to any player deserving a category A contract”. It has been internally communicated that players can be promoted to category A only if their performances justify it. Both Babar and Rizwan had relatively unremarkable seasons over the past 12 months, as did the Pakistan side across formats.In its official statement, the PCB pointedly stated the absence of a player in the highest band. “Notably, no player has been selected for Category A in this cycle,” the statement said.Related

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There have been promotions elsewhere, though. Abrar Ahmed, Saim Ayub, Haris Rauf, Salman Ali Agha and Shadab Khan have all been promoted to category B. Sufiyan Muqim, Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Haris, each of whom did not have a central contract last year, have been awarded one – the first one in the cases of Muqim and Hasan. Meanwhile several players,dropped out of the central contract list altogether, notably Aamir Jamal, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Irfan Khan Niazi and Usman Khan.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

This is the final year of the landmark three-year deal the players reached with the PCB on central contracts. It gave players their highest pay raises in history, and more notably, a fixed share of revenue from the PCB’s earnings at the ICC. The board has stuck to the same arrangement this time, only tweaking which categories particular players are placed in, as was previously agreed. The contracts will be backdated to cover the period starting July 1, 2025, running for another 12 months before a revision can be made.Category B: Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah AfridiCategory C: Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Sahibzada Farhan, Sajid Khan, Saud ShakeelCategory D: Ahmed Daniyal, Hussain Talat, Khurram Shahzad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Wasim jr, Salman Mirza, Shan Masood, Sufyan Muqim

An unbeaten half-century from captain Salman Agha and disciplined bowling from their quartet took Pakistan to a 39-run victory in the first game of the T20I tri-series against Afghanistan. After batting first on a surface curiously supportive of quick runs in Sharjah, Pakistan flew out of the blocks before Rashid Khan dragged them back after the powerplay.But their gameplan encourages attack right through the innings, and equipped with a deep batting line-up, Pakistan had the ammunition to keep going hard till the end. It was best summed up by their Nos. 6, 7 and 8 – Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris and Faheem Ashraf – who combined to score 50 runs in 29 balls.Afghanistan’s pursuit combined purpose with craft, tempering their strokeplay in favour of faithfully tailgating the required rate. Rahmanullah Gurbaz had the license to take advantage of the powerplay, but with Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal more cautious, it was clear Afghanistan were trusting their lower order to make up if they fell behind.It worked nicely until the 11th over, but that plan was blown to shreds with a double-wicket maiden from Haris Rauf in the 12th over, which triggered an Afghanistan capitulation. They lost five wickets for four runs in 16 balls, and though Rashid gave his side fleeting hope with a delightfully entertaining 16-ball 39, Afghanistan had drifted far out of the game by then to swim their way back into it.

Farhan’s start gives Pakistan early ground

Afghanistan had the better of all Pakistan batters in the powerplay bar one, and that was the one who counted. Sahibzada Farhan had made up his mind to take on Fazalhaq Farooqi straight from the outset, and intent crystallised into action when he drove him back over his head off the game’s fourth ball. A four followed that six, before Azmatullah Omarzai was greeted with another piledriver over midwicket.Azmatullah Omarzai cut a free-slowing Sahibzada Farhan’s innings short•Emirates Cricket Board

He was gone by the 15th ball of the game, though, when Omarzai strangled him down leg to short fine, but there had been time enough to smash his way to 21 off ten balls. Afghanistan’s spinners applied the squeeze effectively for the next eight overs as Pakistan kept losing wickets and scored just 51 in that period, but the buffer Farhan had provided his side meant they hadn’t lost too much ground before the picked up the pace again.

Captain takes on captain

Rashid is arguably the best T20I bowler in the world, while Salman is inarguably not the best T20I batter. However, in this battle of captains, it was the less fancied skipper who landed all the telling blows. Having dispatched a couple of boundaries off Fareed Ahmad in the previous over, he took on Afghanistan’s talisman, slapping a couple of on-side sixes in an over that leaked 17.Mohammad Nawaz, watching from the other end, joined the action when Omarzai returned, taking his captain’s lead and slapping a couple of sixes in that 15th over.Salman continued, and though that kind of explosiveness wasn’t ever-present, he still finished with an unbeaten 53 off 36; Pakistan scored 99 in the final nine overs, and it had all begun with Salman’s unlikely takedown of the Afghan superstar.Haris Rauf’s double-wicket maiden turned it in Pakistan’s favour•AFP/Getty Images

Rauf’s double-wicket maiden crushes Afghanistan

Well-managed chases are not Afghanistan’s renowned strength, but you could have been fooled for thinking otherwise halfway through their innings. Atal and Darwish Rasooli had struck up a menacing partnership, and Rashid’s side were nicely placed at 93 for 2 with nine overs in which to launch their onslaught.Until Rauf returned to the attack. A couple of furious hard -ength deliveries that flirted with the 150kph mark elicited no runs, and as the pressure built, Atal grew desperate. He lashed out at a slower ball only to find Shaheen Shah Afridi at deep third. Karim Janat failed to get bat on ball on the first two deliveries and then smeared one to deep square-leg, bringing down the curtain on a double-wicket maiden.Afghanistan imploded over the next few minutes. Sufiyan Muqeem removed Rasooli the following delivery, and Mohammad Nabi in his next over. Mohammad Nawaz accounted for Omarzai as he charged down the pitch leaving Haris with a straightforward stumping.From the 12th to the 16th over, Afghanistan scored a mere 6 runs in 24 balls and lost five wickets. It left Rashid’s ensuing onslaught as light entertainment in an already lost cause.