Ashes

The Ashes 2025/26: Predicted Squad, Early Odds & Tour Schedule

4 months ago

| BY Sam Cox

England head to Australia this winter but history suggests that the tourists are up against it as they look to win The Ashes for the first time since 2015.

Australia have held the Ashes since the 2017/18 series. England have won one series in Australia since 1986/87. As a result, it’s hardly surprising to see the cricket betting markets make Australia odds-on favourites to win the series and retain the urn this winter.

Pat Cummins’ side are aiming to hold the Ashes for five consecutive series. Keeping the urn isn’t enough for these Aussies, though, after they have failed to win on their last two trips to England. A drawn series would be a major disappointment for the Baggy Greens.

England haven’t won a Test in Australia since they won the series in 2010/11. Each Ashes tour has been a mix of disappointment and humiliation from embarrassing collapses to underprepared squads and ill-timed injuries.

Any England fan staying up to follow the live betting markets had to watch some woeful performances.

This iteration of England’s Test team is a different beast. Rob Key, Brendon McCullum, and Ben Stokes have revitalised the red-ball setup, and were some Manchester rain away from becoming the first team to overcome a 2-0 Ashes deficit in 2023.

Regardless of what happens in the home summer, England will truly believe they can win the Ashes when the series gets underway in Perth at the end of November.

Ageing Aussies

Led by Cummins, Australia have conquered world cricket, winning the World Test Championship, white-ball honours, and demolishing India at home over the winter.

This team might not be held in as high a regard as the Steve Waugh era sides, but another emphatic Ashes win would help to put them in the same mix.

This is an ageing squad, though. The majority of the team are on the wrong side of 30 with several into the second half of their fourth decade, including Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, and Mitchell Starc.

England have their fair share of fast-bowling injury concerns, but fitness problems are likely to crop up for the Aussies with Josh Hazlewood, Cummins, Starc, and Scott Boland having a lot of miles in their legs.

This Australia team has a whiff of the 2005 side about it – it’s an immensely experienced, all-time great group of players, but this is the end of a cycle for their Test team.

England’s Selection Dilemmas

Mark Wood and Olly Stone are injured. Brydon Carse isn’t fit after a bruising winter bowling a lot of tough overs. Jofra Archer needs to be wrapped in cotton wool, as does Josh Tongue.

It’s almost impossible to predict England’s bowling attack for the Test in Perth. Gus Atkinson looks like the only guarantee to play due to his stellar start to his international career and his relative durability.

Then there’s the small matter of spin. Away spinners have a torrid record in Australia over the last few years, with the amount of seam movement perhaps giving an opportunity to low-80s bowlers like Sam Cook.

Shoaib Bashir’s position in the team is fragile at best, while Rehan Ahmed has been scoring runs at the top of the order for Leicestershire.

England have made daring selections aplenty under Stokes, but England’s skipper has also been firm on always wanting to have a spinner. How they choose to balance the side will likely come down to how much bowling Stokes can do.

In the batting lineup, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope are the men under pressure with Jacob Bethell, Ben McKinney, and Tom Haines as candidates to step in.