Ashes 2021-22: Australia and England squads

With the mother of all battles set to take place from December 8, the frenzy is well and truly justified. Both Australia as well as England, have already started their preparations for the upcoming Ashes 2021-22. The Poms would definitely fancy their chances of bringing back the urn this time around.

The return of their star all-rounder Ben Stokes comes as a major boost for the visitors. Moreover, their captain Joe Root is in the form of his life as, of late, he has been scoring runs for fun. Besides, the 30-year-old would love to improve his record in Australia.

The hosts, on the other hand, are in a slight spot of bother. Tim Paine recently stepped down as Australia’s Test captain owing to the sexting scandal from 2017, involving him and a former female colleague. The Aussies have announced Pat Cummins as the new Test skipper. Nevertheless, they have already announced their squad for the first two Tests of the series.

While it consists of their regulars, the Queensland batter Usman Khawaja has made comeback to the side. The talented pacer Jhye Richardson has made it to the squad as well. The Brits on the other side had named their squad way back in October.

Although Stokes is back, Joe Root’s men will be without the services of Jofra Archer and Sam Curran. Barring Mark Wood, they seem to be a little light on pace. However, their side still looks like a force to reckon with, on paper at least. Like always, the battle between these two sides is going to be one to remember.

Here are the squads for both the teams:

Australia squad for the first two Tests:

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

England squad:

Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, James Anderson, 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 and Mark Wood