Test cricket is on a high after England's titanic tussle with India thrilled supporters all summer, and the attention has quickly turned to the latest Ashes betting odds ahead of this winter's tour of Australia.
England remain underdogs to prevail Down Under but have been backed at 12/5 to come out on top over five matches, with Australia available at 1/2 and a drawn series quoted at 7/1.
Australia 1/2
How To Watch The Ashes
TNT Sports have won the rights to broadcast all the action after signing a new deal with Cricket Australia.
Every ball will be shown live and exclusively on TNT Sports and Discovery+, with the Tests running from late November to early January.
Bazball To Take Australia By Storm?
Despite losing out in a thrilling finale at the Oval, head coach Brendon McCullum is confident England will benefit from their dramatic drawn series against India when it comes to tackling the Aussies. Every match went to the fifth day, the first time that has been true of a five-Test series since the 2017-18 Ashes in Australia - won 4-0 by the hosts.
McCullum declared: "It's been a magnificent series, as good as I've been involved with or witnessed in my time. We played some excellent cricket, and at times, with the pressure India put us under, we came up a little bit short. “You’re always learning any time you get to see guys having to dig deep and go to places they've maybe not been before.
"We'll let this one sit, and we'll digest it. We'll be able to pick out what has gone well and then start to work out how we can keep improving, so when we do arrive out in Australia, we give ourselves a huge chance. "We're in the middle now, halfway through what we knew was going to be an unbelievable 12 months of Test cricket. We know we've got some room to improve.
"But to be involved in a series of such pressure over a period like this teaches you to be tough and builds resilience within you. A lot of our guys will have learnt a lot and that can only be a good thing."
England @ 12/5
Ashes Dates And Venues 2025/26
First Test - November 21-25 @ Optus Stadium in Perth
Second Test - December 4-8 @ The Gabba in Brisbane
Third Test - December 17-21 @ Adelaide Oval
Fourth Test - December 26-30 @ Melbourne Cricket Ground
Fifth Test - January 4-8 @ Sydney Cricket Ground
Key Questions England Need To Answer
With just over three months to prepare, the main talking point will be the fitness of captain Ben Stokes after he sat out the decider versus India with a shoulder injury. A full lay-off should allow the all-rounder to recover and recharge his batteries, but having been struck down by other knee, hip and hamstring problems in the past two years, a gruelling tour of Australia will test him to the limit.
Losing Chris Woakes due to a dislocated shoulder suffered at the Oval would be a big blow, and McCullum must establish a clear pecking order among his pace bowlers. Mark Wood hopes to be back after missing the entire India series, and Jofra Archer looks certain to lead the attack after his long-awaited comeback, while Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Jamie Overton and Sam Cook all featured this summer.
Ollie Pope's spot at number three remains under scrutiny after averaging 34 against India and finishing 10th on the run-scoring charts, while Jacob Bethell's disappointing effort in the fifth Test weakened his case to step up. Finding a top-class spinner is still an issue, as Shoaib Bashir's form has been a mixed bag so far, with 68 wickets in 19 Tests but a stubbornly high average of 39. Liam Dawson showed little when filling in at Old Trafford.
A number of niggling clashes with India heightened emotions this summer, but the sledging and trash talk will reach far greater levels in Australia, so England must hold their nerve under intense pressure.
Recent Ashes Results
It is a decade since England won a series against Australia, when Alastair Cook’s side battled to a 3-2 victory on home turf, while their last success Down Under was a 3-1 triumph in 2010/11.
That actually marked their most recent match win in Australia, with 13 Tests lost and two drawn since a Sydney celebration under Andrew Strauss.
The Aussies regained the Ashes in 2017/18 and have held them ever since, although England were unlucky to be denied by the Manchester weather in a 2-2 draw when they last met.
2010/11 in Australia: England won 3-1
2013 in England: England won 3-0
2013/14 in Australia: Australia won 5-0
2015 in England: England won 3-2
2017/18 in Australia: Australia won 4-0
2019 in England: Drawn series 2-2
2021/22 in Australia: Australia won 4-0
2023 in England: Drawn series 2-2
What Do The ICC Rankings Tell Us?
Australia are rated the number one Test team in the world, winning 14 of 18 matches over the past couple of years since last facing England, although they did lose to South Africa in the ICC World Test Championship final at Lord's in June. England are third in the rankings, with a record of 12 wins, 10 defeats and one draw over the same two-year period.
The Three Lions can take some heart from having the top two in the batting list via Yorkshire duo Joe Root and Harry Brook. Root's efforts against India took him up to second on the all-time list of Test run-scorers, ending the series on 13,453 for his career and trailing only Sachin Tendulkar's 15,921 for India.
Australia's leading batter is Steve Smith at four, but they have nobody else featured in a top 10 rounded off by England's Ben Duckett. The Aussies have a clear edge in the bowling department, though, with Pat Cummins ranked third in the world, followed by Josh Hazlewood at five, Scott Boland at seven, Nathan Lyon at eight, and Mitchell Starc at 10 - a position he shares with England's front-runner Gus Atkinson.
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