News

So far, so good.

If at any point in the past year England had been offered the Ashes squad they were able to name on Tuesday, they would have played an extra 18 holes to celebrate.

Moves to assemble this group of players started in the summer of 2024. This will be England’s first James Andersonless Ashes tour in more than 20 years. No matter how great a bowler he has been, the absence of an Anderson-style bowler is a sign England’s plan has come together.

Too often England have arrived at an Australian gunfight armed only with knives.

Now, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Ben Stokes can fight fire with fire. It is probably the most hostile group of fast bowlers England have sent down under since John Snow and Bob Willis were at the forefront of victory in 1970-71, the last time England beat a strong Australia team in Australia.

The first Test on a spicy Perth pitch, then the pink-ball Test in Brisbane will not be for the faint-hearted. England might not opt for a spinner in either and will hope to unleash Wood and Archer together in Perth at least.

England say Stokes will recover from his shoulder injury by 21 November, but there will be huge concern over the talismanic skipper’s ability to get through the whole series – he has not played a full part in any of England’s past four.

Without Stokes, chances of returning with the urn dwindle to almost nothing. Protecting the captain could be another reason to play four frontline seamers in Perth.

The case of Wood is a curious one. The fastest bowler in the world has not played a Test since last August because of elbow and knee injuries. A comeback has been gradually pushed back to the point where he has not played at all this summer. Wood states he is best when fresh and there is a body of evidence to support his theory. He will certainly be fresh in Perth.

Stokes and Wood are the only two bowlers in the squad that have played a Test in Australia – overall only five players survive from the previous tour four years ago, a churn that is to be expected when England’s record down under is so wretched.

There are arguably questions about the durability of the entire attack, as all of Archer, Atkinson, Carse and Tongue have had injury problems in the recent past. It was ever thus. Fast bowling is hard work. Archer, the trump card, has shown a recent robustness. It is a collective England could only have imagined in their wildest dreams.

Will Jacks’ inclusion as the cover for Shoaib Bashir perhaps reveals the part, or lack of it, spin will play in the series.

Jacks is a batting all-rounder who played two Tests three years ago and has taken only five first-class wickets this year. In being a tall off-spinner, he mimics the qualities of Bashir and the multi-dimensional aspects of his game give England options. He could, for example, cover for an injured Stokes and still allow for the inclusion of four seamers.

Harry Brook’s elevation to vice-captain was foreshadowed by coach Brendon McCullum more than a week ago. Though entirely logical given Brook is Stokes’ most likely successor as Test captain, it is a blow for Ollie Pope, who now has less to protect him from the challenge of Jacob Bethell.

The Pope-Bethell debate could rumble all the way to Perth, mainly because England missed the opportunity to put it to bed in the summer. They know nothing more about either man than they did in April – Pope missed his chance to nail down the spot and Bethell barely played.

Pope has a career Test average of 35 and almost matched that with 34 in the five home Tests against India. If he does the same against Australia, it would be perfectly adequate.

The rest of the batting line-up is England’s strength. They have pumped coins into the Zak Crawley fruit machine in the hope he pays out in Australia and Ben Duckett is among the premier openers in the world.

Brook has the ability to play a defining role and Jamie Smith’s challenge is to stay the course after fading against India, his first five-Test series as a wicketkeeper.

As usual, plenty will depend on Joe Root, who will have to cope with the noise of not possessing a Test hundred in Australia until he finally has one. In Root’s defence, on his first tour he was a rookie exposed to a rampaging Mitchell Johnson, and in his next two he was an over-worked captain.

He will arrive in Australia unburdened of leadership, totally at ease with his game and unquestionably the best batter in the world.

Australia legend Matthew Hayden has promised to walk around the Melbourne Cricket Ground naked if Root does not make a century. That leaves pressure on Root, because no one needs to see Haydos striding around the ‘G wearing only his cowboy hat.

Much will be made of England’s preparation, or lack of it, playing only one red-ball match against the Lions before the first Test.

The low-key approach has served Stokes and McCullum well. England have won the first Test in all of the five away tours in the Bazball era. Finishing has been the problem – they have lost the last Test in four of those five trips. The plan in Australia must be to get ahead, then hold on.

England could be helped by the questions hanging over the Australians. The early rounds of the Sheffield Shield will be used to identify a top three, while there are huge worries over Pat Cummins’ back injury. The Ashes could be decided by which captains’ body breaks first.

This could be the last Ashes series for all of Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. The mood of a potential Sydney farewell will be dictated by the destination of the urn.

As for England, who knows what might happen after the Ashes? It could be Bazball’s finest hour or failure of a finale. Depending on the result and fitness there are some, Stokes included, who may not pull on the Three Lions again.

So, there we have it. Sixteen men charged with bringing the urn home. A captain born in New Zealand, fast bowlers from Barbados, South Africa and Ashington. A public-school opening pair, a middle-order forged in Yorkshire and a spinner discovered on social media.

November

13-15 v England Lions, Perth (Lilac Hill)

21-25 1st Test, Perth (Optus Stadium) (02:30 GMT)

29-30 v Prime Minister’s XI, Canberra

December

4-8 2nd Test, Brisbane (d/n) (04:30 GMT)

17-21 3rd Test, Adelaide (00:00 GMT)

26-30 4th Test, Melbourne (23:30 GMT, 25-29 Dec)

January

Asia Cup, Super Four, Abu Dhabi

Sri Lanka 133-8 (20 overs): Kamindu 50 (44); Shaheen 3-28

Pakistan 138-5 (18 overs): Nawaz 38 (24), Talat 32 (30)

Pakistan won by five wickets with 12 balls remaining

Pakistan boosted their hopes of reaching the Asia Cup final by edging to a five-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi.

After their disappointing and controversial defeats by rivals India, Pakistan slipped to 80-5 in pursuit of 134 before a partnership of 58 between Hussain Talat and Mohammad Nawaz rescued them.

Needing 46 from 40 balls, Nawaz hit Wanindu Hasaranga, who had 2-5 after his first two overs, for back-to-back boundaries and when the leg-spinner returned to bowl the 17th over Talat struck another two fours.

That swung the equation from 26 runs needed from 24 balls, to 14 from 18, and left-hander Nawaz added three more sixes to seal victory with two overs to spare.

Nawaz finished 38 not out, with Talat unbeaten on 32.

While Pakistan would not have been eliminated with defeat, they would have needed a series of other results to go their way – the situation now facing Sri Lanka.

They had earlier done well to restrict Sri Lanka to 133-8, with left-armer Shaheen Afridi taking 3-28.

Sri Lanka took 53 runs from the powerplay but lost three wickets in doing so and were 58-5 when Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka fell in consecutive deliveries in the eighth over.

Kamindu Mendis led a recovery with 50 but he was pinned in front in the penultimate over by Shaheen – who had earlier dismissed Kusal Mendis with the second ball of the match – denying Sri Lanka a big finish.

India and Bangladesh, who both won their opening Super Four games, meet in Dubai on Wednesday.

2025 Ryder Cup

Venue: Bethpage Black, New York Dates: 26-28 September

The pairings for Friday’s opening Ryder Cup matches will be announced at 21:00 BST on Thursday despite the opening ceremony being moved to Wednesday because of the threat of inclement weather in New York.

Storms are forecast to hit Bethpage Black around the same time as the traditional curtain-raiser, so organisers are taking no chances of the event being interrupted.

An hour-long pre-show will now begin at 20:00 on Wednesday, with the ceremony, which will see both teams formally introduced, following that.

Usually, both captains reveal their pairings for Friday morning’s opening matches during the ceremony.