The Ashes rivalry resumes on November 21.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) dropped their squad for the men’s Ashes 2025 on Tuesday. The storied rivalry will reignite when England and Australia compete for the urn Down Under from November 21.
Under Ben Stokes, England have high hopes in the away Ashes this time. While most of the selections were straightforward, they have made some interesting calls as well. Here we take a look at four key takeaways from the England squad for Ashes 2025.
There were rumours of England thinking of deputising Harry Brook for the Ashes and beyond. It turned out to be true as Ollie Pope lost his position. Brook is already leading the white-ball sides, and the management obviously sees him as the future all-format captain. The added responsibility could see Brook be more measured while batting.
It also raises questions over Pope’s place in the playing XI now that he is not the vice-captain. He should start the series, but if he doesn’t deliver, he could lose out to Jacob Bethell. Pope has been pretty inconsistent in the format, and his game could be fully exposed on Australian soil.
Looking at the 16-member squad, it seems England have nailed their selections for the pace battery. They have picked six pacers in Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, and Matthew Potts.
This unit boasts of some serious pace as everyone can bowl at 140 kmph consistently. Having bowlers with rapid pace is key to success on Australian pitches. England can rotate them well and field an attack that can take 20 wickets in any game.
The only thing they need is a little bit of luck regarding fitness. Archer remains the biggest cog in the wheel for England, but they need to manage him well. He returned to Test cricket during the India series, where he played two games and looked pretty lethal.
Wood hasn’t played any international cricket since March and had to undergo knee surgery. He was expected to return in the fifth Test versus India, but the management decided against it.
Similarly, Carse and Atkinson have also had fitness issues in recent times. In conclusion, England have fast bowlers to rattle Australia, but they need them to stay fit throughout the tour.
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Rehan Ahmed was among the contenders for the second spin option on the tour of Australia. He has shown remarkable form in domestic cricket, and the word was that he could be on the plane. But in a last-minute shocker, England picked Will Jacks ahead of him.
Rehan delivered an excellent County Championship season for Leicestershire. He piled on 760 runs at an average of 50.66 with five centuries. The leg-spin all-rounder also picked 23 wickets at 19 runs apiece.
Jacks, who last played a Test in December 2022, averages 42.22 with the ball in FC cricket. With the bat, he has averaged 35 and only played three games in this County season. Given his poor record and lack of red-ball action, it seems a completely out-of-the-box selection.
One of the big talking points ahead of the squad selection was who would be the frontline spinner. It was a three-way battle between Shoaib Bashir, Liam Dawson, and Jack Leach. In the end, they went with Bashir, who had been a regular feature before getting injured during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Bashir had a poor series against India, where he picked up 10 wickets at an average of 54.10. Not to mention, most of the dismissals came when the batters took extra risks. The 21-year-old averages 39 in Test cricket from 19 games, and his overall FC numbers are even worse. All of it makes this a perplexing decision.
Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Joe Root, Will Jacks, Jamie Smith (wk), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, and Josh Tongue.
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