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The 2025-26 edition of the Ashes series will be played across five venues in Australia from November 21, 2025 to January 8, 2026.
The 2025-26 edition of Ashes series will be played from November 21, 2025 to January 8, 2026 in Australia. (Picture Credit: AFP)
The 2025-26 edition of the Ashes series between England and Australia will be played in Australia this year. The five-match Test series will kick off on November 21 in Perth, and the next four matches are scheduled to take place in Brisbane (December 4-8), Adelaide (December 17-21), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 4-8). Ahead of the start of the high-voltage series in Australia, former England skipper Michael Vaughan made his prediction for the winners.
According to Vaughan, the Baggy Greens will get the better of the Poms with a scoreline of 3-1.
“Prediction… Australia, just by 3-1,” Vaughan said on the Stick To Cricket podcast when asked about his Ashes prediction.
In the last Ashes series in Australia, which was played from December 8, 2021, to January 16, 2022, England suffered defeat in four matches under Joe Root’s leadership, and one game at Sydney Cricket Ground ended in a draw.
England last won a Test match in Australia in 2011. During the fifth Test of the 2010-2011 Ashes series, England hammered Australia by an innings and 83 runs in Sydney to win the series with a scoreline of 3-1 under Andrew Strauss’s leadership.
In their last three Test tours of Australia, England have suffered defeats in 13 out of 15 matches, and two games ended in a draw.
Botham – cult hero
During the Stick To Cricket podcast, Vaughan was also asked to pick his best Ashes memory, and he mentioned Ben Stokes’ knock of 135 runs in the second innings of the 2019 series at Headingley. In that contest, Stokes played one of the best knocks of all time to help England chase down the target of 359 runs. He added 76 runs for the last wicket with Jack Leach (1 not out) to snatch a win for the English team.
For Vaughan, that innings by Stokes is also the best individual performance in the history of the Ashes series.
When quizzed about the Ashes cult hero, Vaughan, who won the 2005 Ashes series as England captain, snubbed Andrew Flintoff and instead picked Ian Botham.
Botham, who is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, has played a total of 36 matches in the Ashes and scored 1673 runs (4 centuries, 6 fifties) in addition to taking 148 wickets.
London, United Kingdom (UK)
October 20, 2025, 14:49 IST
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