If we needed a reminder of just how close the next Ashes in Australia is, the schedule for the series that could define the Bazball era dropped on day two of England’s second Test against Pakistan in Multan.
We are now exactly 13 months away from the start of the opening Test at Perth Stadium on 21 November 2025.
It will be a welcome relief to England that this series is not kicking off in Brisbane for the first time in 42 years, given they have not won at the Gabba since 1986.
But where are England right now in terms of their readiness for the biggest series of all?
How prepared are England for the next Ashes?
Ben Stokes’s team may have just lost to Pakistan in Multan, yet their record of 20 wins from 31 Tests is good.
Picking their strongest XI for a series still more than a year away is tricky. But gazing into the crystal ball, we do have a fairly good idea of what that team for Perth might look like.
England’s top seven is relatively straightforward. Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett are a lock, as are Joe Root at No 4, Harry Brook at five, Stokes at six and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith at No 7.
The big issue in terms of England’s batting is Ollie Pope at the pivotal No 3 position.
Pope is averaging 28.52 since his match-winning 196 against India at Hyderabad in January. A century in the final Test of the summer against Sri Lanka at his home ground of The Oval quietened talk over his form. But across the first two Tests in Pakistan he has scored nought, 29 and 22.
His record against Australia is poor. He averaged 22 in the 2023 home Ashes before sustaining a series-ending shoulder injury in the second Test at Lord’s.
In Australia, his record is even worse. Pope averaged 11.16 in three Tests batting at No 6 during the 2021-22 Ashes.
The 26-year-old is a different player now and despite his recent form, his overall record since he was recalled to the team at the start of the Bazball era in the 2022 summer is good.
Coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes identified him as the perfect man to bat at three. With six centuries and an average of 38.77 since, he has not let them down. But he needs a solid run of form before the Ashes, not least because there are few alternatives.
Asking Brook or Root to bat No 3 disturbs not only the batting order but also two of the team’s best players.
Jordan Cox, in the squad as a reserve batter in Pakistan, could potentially bat at three. He started his career as an opener and has batted at four since. But it seems a stretch for him to bat one place higher than that for his country.
It is to be hoped Pope has a positive end to the Test winter, starting with the series decider against Pakistan in Rawalpindi this week, so he can save McCullum and Stokes a headache further down the line.
In terms of the bowling attack, so much rests on the fitness of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, the two quickest bowlers in the country.
If both are fit, and England are building up Archer’s workloads with a view to him returning to Test cricket next summer, they have to play in Perth.
It would allow one more place for a frontline seamer in the XI. At this stage, following his performances in the opening two Tests in Pakistan, Brydon Carse probably takes it ahead of Gus Atkinson.
That might seem harsh on a player who has taken 38 wickets at 21.86 in his first seven Tests, but Atkinson will definitely play a big part in Australia given England will have to carefully manage the workloads of their seamers across the five Tests.
To that end, they will hope to have a battery of fast bowlers they can rotate, including Olly Stone, Josh Tongue and Josh Hull as well as Carse, Wood, Archer and Atkinson.
The chances of all of them being fit are remote. But England now at least have strength in depth in their fast-bowling stocks
The final place in the team is the spinner. Shoaib Bashir is Bazball’s chosen one and he would need to have a horrendous year to drop out of the XI. McCullum revealing over the weekend he is likely to send Bashir on the England Lions red-ball tour of Australia in January led by coach Andrew Flintoff is another sign he is the team’s favoured spinner for the Ashes.
Jack Leach should also be in the Ashes squad but it is Bashir who will be in the XI if he progresses as England hope he will.
There are selection decisions to be made when it comes to Australia but the team are travelling in the right direction to make a better fist of an away Ashes than their recent predecessors, who have been unable to win any of their last 15 Tests Down Under.
England’s possible XI for first Ashes Test in Perth
- Zak Crawley
- Ben Duckett
- Ollie Pope
- Joe Root
- Harry Brook
- Ben Stokes (captain)
- Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper)
- Brydon Carse
- Mark Wood
- Jofra Archer
- Shoaib Bashir
