Ashes 2025 live: England select Mark Wood in first Test squad

Pat Cummins, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Sean Abbott, 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.

I used to hide by mistake, or at least stay inside the circle so that I don’t feel any worse, it’s cruel!” Mark Butcher explains Boyle Sports On the impact of crowds in away Ashes series.

“You’ve got two contrasting groups of supporters – the Barmy Army will be there and they’ll be drinking, singing songs and having a good time, whether they win or lose. It’s ironic, at a time when we couldn’t even win a Test, let alone win a series there.

“It’s based on humor and having the best time no matter what happens on the field and getting behind the England team. Where there’s no Australian crowd – it’s just personal abuse and abuse! The amount of humor involved is very, very limited and it’s basically calling everyone a c***, every day until the whole thing blows over.

“That’s part of what makes it great – that’s what makes being involved in these series different to anything else, it’s a battle from start to finish. But it’s also the best fun you can have as a cricketer and I’m sure the Australian players feel the same when they come here.”

2025/26 ash The series begins in Perth on November 21, as England aim to wrest the vase back from Australian hands.

England have not won an Ashes series for a decade and they have not won a Test match in Australia since 2010/11. But there is optimism that things could be different this time, as Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum bring their exciting brand of ‘buzzball’ to the competition.

The series will start in Perth rather than Brisbane, where the Gabba has hosted every opening Ashes Test for more than 40 years, and England may be relieved – they have a poor record at the Gabba, with no wins there since 1986.

The Ashes will instead begin at a new venue as Perth’s 60,000-seat Optus Stadium will replace the much smaller, older WACA ground that has traditionally hosted.

Along with the fitness of Mark Wood, there was also a question on the selection of the England team as to who will bat at number three?

The two options where the former vice-captain is getting the nod is Ollie Pope or Jacob Bethell.

Pope scored 100 and 90 in England’s only warm-up match before the series and was selected in the team while Bethell missed the match in Perth.

Pope’s average in Test cricket is 35.36 with nine centuries but he needs more consistency. The recent trend has seen that he scores big in the beginning of the series and falls behind before the series progresses.

His average has reached 41.60 while batting at number three, where he has recorded eight of those nine centuries, so the potential is there and it is easy to see why England have placed faith in him.

Jimmy Anderson believes the first Test in Perth could be the only game in which Jofra Archer and Mark Wood will be rested with England rotating the pair throughout the series.

He explained: “I think if you’re going to play them together, probably the first Test in Perth, where it’s fast and bouncy, you want to start the series well, so hit them straight away at a reasonable pace.

“After that I think they’ll try to play one of them, and rest and recover the other one.”

Anderson said that Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse will need to bowl consistently throughout the series if England are to have any chance of winning.

“It leaves room for Braydon Carse or Gus Atkinson. They’re still pretty fast, but they also have skill, and maybe a little more control than others,” Anderson continued.

“He’s going to have a big role. If England are to win this series, or have a chance, the bowling attack is going to have to be consistently good.”

It’s all well and good that England have chosen to go with an all-seam attack, but the pace will be ineffective if they don’t have the accuracy to exploit it.

England’s all-time leading wicket-taker, James Anderson, has played on six tours of Australia and knows a thing or two about taking wickets there.

“There will be a bit of movement on the pitches, as we have had in the last two tours. So you need accuracy as well as pace,” Anderson told the Tailenders Podcast ahead of the series.

“I think one of the question marks for England will potentially be Ben Stokes – out of that group of bowlers, he is the one bowler who can churn out those spells of accuracy and skill.

“But he also has an injury record, so it could be a big part of the series as well.”

Perth is known for its pace and bounce and a pitch suitable for seam bowlers.

The England team has five fast bowlers including captain Ben Stokes and Shoaib Bashir as a spin option.

Will Stokes and Brendon McCullum try a complete seam attack in the first Test?

,[The possibility is] Very exciting,” Gus Atkinson explained.

“We hear about these pitches in Australia with pace and bounce, so it’s really good to come here, knowing that as a fast bowler you can make major contributions.

“We’re all very excited. We’ve got a lot of speed on offense. I’m probably a little slower than some of the others.

“It’s about maintaining that control, focusing on taking wickets and putting the batsmen under pressure.”

England fast bowler Gus Atkinson is going to get his first experience of the Ashes series this weekend.

The 27-year-old had made a great start to his Test career before staying away from the field due to injury.

However, he is fully fit and is preparing ahead of the series and is looking forward to it being an ‘exciting’ match.

When Atkinson was asked how it felt to play in the Ashes, he told BBC Sport: “It means a lot.”

“Going into the 2005 Ashes was the main thing for me. Since then it has been a dream to play in an Ashes series.

“It’s very exciting to have the opportunity.”

All the noise coming from the Australian camp has been around the injured pair of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, leaving the home bowling stock badly weakened.

Scott Boland and uncapped Brendan Doggett are expected to replace the injured pair, who have 604 Test wickets between them.

And Mitchell Starc is confident that the team can compete even without his talisman.

“Sadly, injuries and fast bowling keep happening,” the 35-year-old Starc said of Cummins and Hazlewood.

“But it’s good to see depth on the team. We know what Scotty Boland can do. Dougie (Doggett) is also coming off a hot streak right now.”

Everyone is excited about the prospect of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer reuniting for the second time in Test cricket but Gus Atkinson will also be an important part of the seam attack.

And Atkinson, who has taken 63 wickets at an average of 22.07 in 13 matches – including a hat-trick against New Zealand last winter and eight wickets in his recent outing against India – is content to stay out of the firing line.

He said, “I’m not sure it’s a mistake… That’s been happening in the background so far in my career and I don’t mind it.”

“Jofra and Woody are amazing bowlers and they will be huge for us in this series.

“You hear about it (Tests in Australia) in the past and it’s all ‘speed, speed, speed’; but we’re hearing a bit more seam movement recently. For me personally, it’s good to hear. It’s something I’m looking forward to.”