2025–26 Ashes series
Part ofEnglish cricket team in Australia in 2025–26
Date	21 November 2025 – 8 January 2026
Location	Australia
Result	Australia won the five-match series 4–1
Player of the series	Compton–Miller Medal: Mitchell Starc (Aus)[1]
Teams  Australia  England Captains Steve Smith[a] Pat Cummins[b] Ben Stokes Most runs Travis Head (629) Alex Carey (323) Steve Smith (286) Joe Root (400) Harry Brook (358) Zak Crawley (273) Most wickets Mitchell Starc (31) Scott Boland (20) Michael Neser (15) Brydon Carse (22) Josh Tongue (18) Ben Stokes (15)
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The2025–26 Ashes series, branded asNRMA Insurance Men's Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons, was a series ofTest cricket matches played betweenAustralia andEngland forThe Ashes, between 21 November 2025 and 8 January 2026.^[6][7] The five-match series formed part of the2025–2027 ICC World Test Championship.^[8]

Australia were the holders of the Ashes, having won in2021–22^[9] and drawn in2023.^[10] After taking a 3–0 lead in the series, Australia retained the Ashes.^[11] England won the 4th Test in Melbourne by 4 wickets, ending an 18-match (14-year) losing streak in Australia in Ashes Tests and prevented a whitewash.^[12] In the fifth test, Australia won by 5 wickets and thus ended the series with 4 – 1.^[13][14]

Australia[15]	England[16]
Steve Smith (c)[a] Sean Abbott Scott Boland Alex Carey (wk) Pat Cummins (c)[b] Brendan Doggett Cameron Green Josh Hazlewood Travis Head Josh Inglis (wk) Usman Khawaja Marnus Labuschagne Nathan Lyon Todd Murphy Michael Neser Jhye Richardson Mitchell Starc Jake Weatherald Beau Webster	Ben Stokes (c) Harry Brook (vc) Jofra Archer Gus Atkinson Shoaib Bashir Jacob Bethell Brydon Carse Zak Crawley Ben Duckett Matthew Fisher Will Jacks Ollie Pope (wk) Matthew Potts Joe Root Jamie Smith (wk) Josh Tongue Mark Wood

Australia named a 15-man squad for the first Test, with regular captainPat Cummins unavailable due to injury.^[15] On 12 November,Sean Abbott was ruled out of the first Test with a moderate-grade hamstring injury, and was replaced byBrendan Doggett.^[17] On 15 November,Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the first Test with a hamstring injury, and was replaced byMichael Neser.^[18][19] On 24 November, Hazlewood was ruled out of the second Test,^[20] before being ruled out of the rest of the series on 9 December.^[21][22] Pat Cummins was also added back to the squad and returned to captain the team in the third test.^[23] On 23 December, Pat Cummins andNathan Lyon were ruled out of the remainder of the Test series due to back issues and a hamstring injury, respectively.^[24][25] The pair were replaced byJhye Richardson andTodd Murphy.^[26]

On 9 December,Mark Wood was ruled out of remainder of the Test series with a knee injury, and was replaced byMatthew Fisher.^[27][28] On 24 December,Jofra Archer was ruled out of the remainder of the Test series with a side strain.^[29][30] On 29 December,Gus Atkinson was ruled out of the fifth Test with a hamstring injury.^[31]

1st Test
Perth

3rd Test
Adelaide

4th Test
Melbourne

5th Test
Sydney

2nd Test
Brisbane

The five venues arePerth Stadium,The Gabba,Adelaide Oval,Melbourne Cricket Ground andSydney Cricket Ground. The venues and dates for the series were announced by Cricket Australia on 16 October 2024.^[32][33]

Perth Stadium hosted the first Test of the series.^[34] This was the first time Perth Stadium hosted an Ashes Test and marked the return of Ashes cricket toPerth, after the city was not included in the schedule for the 2021–22 series.^[35]

It was the first Ashes series in Australia not to commence at the Gabba inBrisbane, since the1982–83 series. Brisbane instead hosted the second Test of the series, which was aday/night match.^[36]

On 24 July 2025, Cricket Australia announced the fixtures for the warm-up matches.^[37] On 29 July, Cricket Australia announced the pink-ball Ashes warm-up match between Prime Minister's XI and England XI.^[38][39] The England preparation was criticised by several former players in advance with the team only playing a warm-up game against England Lions.^[40]

13–15 November 2025 Scorecard

England Lions	v	England XI
382 (79.3 overs) Will Jacks 84 (85) Ben Stokes 6/52 (16 overs)		426 (85.3 overs) Ollie Pope 100 (113) Jacob Bethell 3/14 (4.3 overs)
6/251d (44.5 overs) Jacob Bethell 70 (80) Brydon Carse 3/65 (11 overs)		5/202 (34.4 overs) Ollie Pope 90 (67) Will Jacks 2/67 (9.4 overs)

England XI won by 5 wickets Lilac Hill Park,Perth Umpires: Simon Bussey (Aus) and Ahmad Khan (Aus)

• England XI won the toss and elected to field.

29–30 November 2025 (D/N) Scorecard

Prime Minister's XI	v	England XI
8/308d (83 overs) Campbell Kellaway 82 (126) Tom Haines 2/51 (12 overs)		2/309 (66.3 overs) James Rew 92* (123) Campbell Thompson 1/46 (11 overs)

England XI won by 8 wickets Manuka Oval,Canberra Umpires:Gerard Abood (Aus) and Ben Treloar (Aus)

• Prime Minister's XI won the toss and elected to bat.

This sectionneeds expansion with: needs match summary. You can help bymaking an edit requestadding missing information.(January 2026)

21–22 November 2025 Scorecard

England	v	Australia
172 (32.5 overs) Harry Brook 52 (61) Mitchell Starc 7/58 (12.5 overs)		132 (45.2 overs) Alex Carey 26 (26) Ben Stokes 5/23 (6 overs)
164 (34.4 overs) Gus Atkinson 37 (32) Scott Boland 4/33 (11.4 overs)		2/205 (28.2 overs) Travis Head 123 (83) Brydon Carse 2/44 (5.2 overs)

Australia won by 8 wickets Perth Stadium,Perth Umpires:Adrian Holdstock (SA) andNitin Menon (Ind) Player of the match:Mitchell Starc (Aus)

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• Brendan Doggett andJake Weatherald (Aus) both made their Test debuts.^[41]
• This was the first time the side batting last won atPerth Stadium.^[42]
• Mitchell Starc's (Aus) 7/58 first innings bowling figures were a career-best inTest cricket.^[43][44]
• Head's century off 69 balls was the second-fastest in Ashes history.^[45]
• This Test was the first Ashes Test to be concluded inside two days since the first Test of1921 and the shortest by balls bowled since1888.^[46][47]
• World Test Championship points: Australia 12, England 0.

4–7 December 2025 (D/N) Scorecard

England	v	Australia
334 (76.2 overs) Joe Root 138* (206) Mitchell Starc 6/75 (20 overs)		511 (117.3 overs) Mitchell Starc 77 (141) Brydon Carse 4/152 (29 overs)
241 (75.2 overs) Ben Stokes 50 (152) Michael Neser 5/42 (16.2 overs)		2/69 (10 overs) Steve Smith 23* (9) Gus Atkinson 2/37 (5 overs)

Australia won by 8 wickets The Gabba,Brisbane Umpires:Adrian Holdstock (SA) andSharfuddoula (Ban) Player of the match:Mitchell Starc (Aus)

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• Mitchell Starc (Aus) surpassedWasim Akram (Pak) to become the highest wicket-taker as a left-arm fast-bowler in Tests.^[48] Starc also overtookStuart Broad to make themost Test runs at number 9.^[49]
• Travis Head (Aus) scored his 4,000th run in Tests.^[50]
• In Australia's first innings, all eleven batters reached double figures in a Test innings for the third time in their history.^[51][52]
• Joe Root (Eng) scored his first evercentury in Australia.^[53]
• Michael Neser (Aus) took his maidenfive-wicket haul in Tests.^[54][55]
• World Test Championship points: Australia 12, England 0.

17–21 December 2025 Scorecard

Australia	v	England
371 (91.2 overs) Alex Carey 106 (143) Jofra Archer 5/53 (20.2 overs)		286 (87.2 overs) Ben Stokes 83 (198) Scott Boland 3/45 (15.2 overs)
349 (84.4 overs) Travis Head 170 (219) Josh Tongue 4/70 (18 overs)		352 (102.5 overs) Zak Crawley 85 (151) Pat Cummins 3/48 (17 overs)

Australia won by 82 runs Adelaide Oval,Adelaide Umpires:Nitin Menon (Ind) andAhsan Raza (Pak) Player of the match:Alex Carey (Aus)

• Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• Will Jacks' first-inningseconomy rate of 5.25 was the second-highest in Test history for any bowler to have delivered 20 overs (behindJimmy Sinclair in1902).^[56]
• Australia won and retained theAshes as a result of this match.^[57] It was also the fifth consecutive Ashes series Australia has retained.
• Australia retained the Ashes in 11 days, the quickest series victory since2002–03.^[58]
• World Test Championship points: Australia 12, England 0.

26–27 December 2025 Scorecard

Australia	v	England
152 (45.2 overs) Michael Neser 35 (49) Josh Tongue 5/45 (11.2 overs)		110 (29.5 overs) Harry Brook 41 (34) Michael Neser 4/45 (10 overs)
132 (34.3 overs) Travis Head 46 (67) Brydon Carse 4/34 (11 overs)		6/178 (32.2 overs) Jacob Bethell 40 (46) Jhye Richardson 2/22 (5.2 overs)

England won by 4 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne Umpires:Kumar Dharmasena (SL) andChris Gaffaney (NZ) Player of the match:Josh Tongue (Eng)

• England won the toss and elected to field.
• Josh Tongue (Eng) took his firstfive-wicket haul in Australia. He also became the first England player to take five-wicket haul at the MCG since1998.^[59]
• The Day 1 crowd of 94,199 was the largest in the history of cricket in Australia, beating the previous record of 93,013 at the2015 Cricket World Cup final.^[60][61]
• Harry Brook (Eng) became the fastest batsman to score 3,000 runs in Tests in terms of balls faced.^[62]
• Steve Smith (Aus) surpassedAllan Border to become the second highest run-scorer in Ashes history afterDon Bradman.^[63]
• Ben Duckett (Eng) scored his 3,000th run in Tests.^[64]
• This was England's first Test win in Australia foralmost 15 years.^[65]
• World Test Championship points: England 12, Australia 0.

4–8 January 2026 Scorecard

England	v	Australia
384 (97.3 overs) Joe Root 160 (242) Michael Neser 4/60 (18.3 overs)		567 (133.5 overs) Travis Head 163 (166) Josh Tongue 3/97 (30 overs)
342 (88.2 overs) Jacob Bethell 154 (265) Beau Webster 3/64 (16 overs)		5/161 (31.2 overs) Marnus Labuschagne 37 (40) Josh Tongue 3/42 (11 overs)

Australia won by 5 wickets Sydney Cricket Ground,Sydney Umpires:Chris Gaffaney (NZ) andAhsan Raza (Pak) Player of the match:Travis Head (Aus)

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• Usman Khawaja (Aus) played in his last Test match.^[66]
• Jacob Bethell (Eng) scored his maidencentury in Tests andFirst-class cricket overall.^[67]
• Attendance over the 5 days of play was 211,032, an SCG Test record.^[68]
• World Test Championship points: Australia 12, England 0.

Rank	Name	Runs	Inns.	NO	HS	Ave.	100s	50s	SR
1	Travis Head	629	10	0	170	62.90	3	0	87.36
2	Joe Root	400	10	1	160	44.44	2	0	58.30
3	Harry Brook	358	10	1	84	39.77	0	2	81.73
4	Alex Carey	323	8	1	106	46.14	1	2	72.25
5	Steve Smith	286	8	3	138	57.20	1	1	63.69
Source:ESPNcricinfo

Rank	Name	Wkts.	Ovs.	Mdns.	Runs	Eco.	Ave.	Best.
1	Mitchell Starc	31	153.1	15	618	4.03	19.93	7/58
2	Brydon Carse	22	138.4	13	667	4.81	30.31	4/34
3	Scott Boland	20	159.5	27	499	3.12	24.95	4/33
4	Josh Tongue	18	97.2	5	362	3.71	20.11	5/45
5	Michael Neser	15	82.5	9	299	3.60	19.93	5/42
	Ben Stokes		101.1	12	377	3.72	25.13	5/23
Source:ESPNcricinfo

• Series home at ESPNcricinfo

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