Ashes 2021-22: All you need to know about the five-match Test series

Australia are the current holders of the Ashes.

Published - 07 Dec 2021, 14:53 IST | Updated - 07 Dec 2021, 14:53 IST

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Steve Smith of Australia and Joe Root of England

The Ashes is the pinnacle of Test cricket, so much so, that several cricket pundits consider it equivalent to an ICC trophy. Every budding cricketer in Australia and England dreams of playing an Ashes Test match.

With the mega-event all set to take place from December 08, Australia, as well as England, would be raring to get on the field. Both sides have had their issues to deal with. The hosts have recently announced Pat Cummins as their new captain in the longest format of the game, but the fact that they haven’t played a Test match since January 2021 may not help their cause.

The Poms, on the other hand, have struggled with the bat of late. Barring their skipper Joe Root, none of the other batters have stepped up and thus, their batting looks brittle, to say the least. A lot will depend on their pace bowlers.

The English fans would hope that the veteran pair, consisting of James Anderson and Stuart Broad wreak havoc on their opposition batters. However, tackling the likes of Steve Smith, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne is going to be a mammoth task.

As Australia won the Ashes 2017-2018 and then, managed to retain it by drawing the Ashes 2019, they still hold it. The Brits would love to win their first Ashes down under since 2011 and thus, get the urn back to merry-old London. Here is all you need to know about the mother of all rivalries:

Ashes Head to Head record

Overall

Total series played: 71 (Australia 33- England 32)

Matches played: 335

Won by Australia: 136

Won by England: 108

Ashes in Australia

Matches played: 173

Won by Australia: 91

Won by England: 56

Ashes 2021-22 Squads:

Australia squad for the first two Tests:

Pat Cummins (C), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, and David Warner

England squad:

Joe Root (C), Ben Stokes, James Anderson (to miss the first Test), Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood