Australia vs England: 2025-26 Ashes dates, schedule, start times & TV info
November 21-25: First Test, Perth (starts 2.30am)
December 4-8: Second Test, Brisbane (Day-night match, starts 4.30am)
December 17-21: Third Test, Adelaide (Starts midnight)
December 25-29: Fourth Test, Melbourne (Starts 11.30pm)
January 3-7: Fifth Test, Sydney (Starts 11.30pm)
TV: Live coverage on TNT Sports 1
Australia vs England: 2025-26 Ashes betting tips & predictions
Best bets
Australia to win 3-1
2pts 15-2 bet365, BoyleSports
Australia to win 3-2
2pts 7-1 Paddy Power
Travis Head top Australia series runscorer
2pts 4-1 Paddy Power
Zak Crawley to score more series runs than Usman Khawaja
5pts 13-10 bet365
Ben Stokes top England series wicket-taker
1pt 5-1 Paddy Power
Jamie Smith to score fastest series fifty
1pt 8-1 BoyleSports
Australia vs England: 2025-26 Ashes preview
English cricket fans will be up at 2.30am on Friday to watch the first ball of the 2025-26 Ashes, hoping for a dream start rather than a rude awakening in Perth.
England have lost the last three series in Australia by 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 scorelines but they have a clear gameplan and plenty of confidence under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
Bazball sceptics might suggest that if England were half as good as they think they are, the Ashes urn would already be back in their possession.
They certainly talk a good game for a team who have lost 14 of their 41 Tests under McCullum, failing to beat Australia and India at home in 2023 and 2025.
Ben Duckett and Brendon McCullum talk before a practice match Credit: Getty Images
But England needed to take a fresh approach to Ashes tours and their runscoring rate and fast-bowling threat will worry the hosts.
Since Stokes and McCullum took charge, they have scored at 4.56 runs per over – compared to 2.75 in their previous 145 years of Test cricket – and pacemen Jofra Archer and Mark Wood are capable of matchwinning spells.
The absence of injured Australia captain Pat Cummins and star fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, for at least the first Test, will narrow the gap between the old rivals.
And, with the exception of Ashes run-machine Steve Smith, Travis Head and wicketkeeper Alex Carey, Australia’s batting unit has questions to answer.
The hosts are 8-13 to win the series against 2-1 England but splitting stakes between 3-1 and 3-2 Australia victories looks the best strategy.
Inconsistent England may come up short in an epic series
The Aussies play a less flashy brand of cricket than England but they are more ruthless, reaching the last two World Test Championship finals and beating India 3-1 in 2024-25.
England’s highlights reel will always trump Australia’s but winning a five-Test series down under requires the grit and consistency that Stokes’s men have rarely shown.
They have suffered humiliating home defeats against South Africa at Lord’s and Sri Lanka at The Oval, also losing to New Zealand after enforcing the follow-on in Wellington in February 2023.
England had to come from 2-0 down to draw the home Ashes series later that year and they let India off the hook a couple of times this summer.
They traded at 1.07 on Betfair in the draw at Old Trafford and India hit 12-1 in-play on day four of the final Test before claiming a dramatic six-run win.
Most of England’s best work has been done on flat pitches but Australian wickets, both for domestic and international fixtures, have become far more bowler-friendly in recent seasons.
The second Test in Brisbane is a day-night game – the Aussies have a formidable record with the pink ball – while Nathan Lyon is a class apart from England’s spinners so Stokes’s men may come up short in their pursuit of Ashes glory.
Travis Head starred in his limited appearances during the last AshesCredit: AFP via Getty Images
Back Head to shoulder runscoring burden for Aussies
Australia’s middle-order dynamo Travis Head had a quiet start to the home summer but he loves the big occasion and goes well fresh.
The left-hander comes in at number five, well away from the new-ball threat, and was the leading runscorer in the 2021-22 Ashes despite playing only three of the five Tests.
He also topped the charts in last season’s series against a top-class India attack and scored matchwinning centuries against the Indians in the WTC and World Cup finals in 2023.
Opener Crawley primed to outshine veteran counterpart
Jibes about the advanced age of the Australia team may come back to bite England but home opener Usman Khawaja, who turns 39 on December 18, is undoubtedly under pressure.
Backing Zak Crawley to outscore Khawaja looks a great bet as the veteran made only 184 runs in ten innings against India and averaged 19.5 in July’s three-Test series in the West Indies.
Khawaja was dismissed for nought and six in June’s WTC final defeat to South Africa at Lord’s and England’s management believe Crawley will shine in Australian conditions.
At 6ft 5in, he is equipped to handle the extra bounce. He made an excellent 77 in Sydney on the disastrous 2021-22 tour before racking up 480 runs at an average of 53.33 in the 2023 Ashes.
England skipper Stokes has crucial role in bowling attack
The top series wicket-taker markets are treacherous given both teams’ injury problems but skipper Stokes is an eye-catching price to be England’s top bowler.
He returned to bowling action in June, taking two wickets in three hostile overs against Zimbabwe, and was superb against India, claiming 17 scalps in four Tests.
While England’s other bowlers are rotated and rested, Stokes is the first name on the teamsheet – fitness permitting – and his short, sharp spells could cause problems for the Aussies.
Only Stuart Broad took more wickets for England than Stokes’s 15 in his debut series in 2013-14 and, having claimed 6-50 in the warm-up game against England Lions, he could play a key role with the ball.
Expect some explosive innings from Jamie SmithCredit: Getty Images
Swashbuckling Smith could race to speedy half-century
The contrast in styles between Australia and England is epitomised by the batting of rival wicketkeepers Carey and Jamie Smith.
The Aussie is an unflappable, underrated Test batsman while Smith’s explosive hitting has earned him a promotion to open the batting in white-ball cricket.
The Surrey man looks a nice price to score the fastest series fifty as England will aim to give him a platform to attack tiring bowlers and, like Crawley, he is a fearless player of fast bowling.
Smith scored 184 not out and 88 in July’s defeat to India at Edgbaston, at a strike-rate of 88.88 runs per 100 balls, and smashed 67 off 50 balls against Sri Lanka at The Oval in September 2024.
Australia vs England: 2025-26 Ashes squads
Australia
First Test squad: Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster.
England
Ben Stokes (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood.
Australia vs England: 2025-26 Ashes betting odds
Sign up with bet365 to bet on Australia vs England in the 2025-26 Ashes. Here are the latest odds for the five-Test series.
MarketOddsAustralia8-13England2-1Draw9-1
Odds correct at time of publishing
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FAQs for Australia vs England: 2025-26 Ashes
When is Australia vs England in the 2025-26 Ashes?
The first Test starts at 2.30am on Friday, November 21 and the final match of the series begins at 11.30pm on Saturday, January 3, 2026.
Where is Australia vs England being played?
The 2025-26 Ashes are being held in Australia and the five Test matches take place in Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
What is the series betting for Australia vs England?
Australia are 8-13 favourites to win the series with England priced up at 2-1 and the draw at 9-1.
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