Ashes 2025-26, AUS Vs ENG: Can England's Bazball Break Australia's Home Dominance? Read Series Preview

Brendon McCullum was appointed England Test coach in the wake of a winter of discontent.

Under previous coach Matthew Mott, England slumped to a 4-0 defeat in the last Ashes series to be held in Australia.

A series loss to West Indies followed, and that was it for Mott, with McCullum appointed in May 2022. Joe Root also stepped down as captain, with Ben Stokes taking the role.

Since then, McCullum and Stokes' front-foot approach has rejuvenated England's form in the longest format, even if there has been bumps in the road.

Also Read: Ashes 2025-26: Five Things To Look Forward To During Australia Vs England Rivalry Down Under

Australia took on the new-look England in 2023, with a 2-2 draw seeing the tourists return the Ashes, which England have not won since a win on home soil in 2015.

The intervening decade has seen Australia win both of their home Ashes series and draw twice in England.

Indeed, England have not triumphed in Australia since the 2010-11 series, which they won 3-1.

Ahead of the 2025-26 Ashes starting in Perth on Friday, we delve into the key storylines and records, calling on Opta insights.

Australia Trusting Old Guard

Only one player named in Australia's squad for the first Test is under the age of 30, and that is Cameron Green.

With captain Pat Cummins out injured, albeit the paceman is expected to feature at some stage in the series, Steve Smith will be in charge for at least the opening Test, and he will be leading a vastly experienced team at Perth Stadium.

Brendan Doggett and Jake Weatherald are vying for their Test debuts, while Beau Webster (seven), Josh Inglis (three) and Michael Neser (two) have all played under 10 matches in the format.

However, the rest of Australia's squad have featured in 649 Tests between them.

The likes of Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja and Smith have all played key roles in Australia being able to retain the urn over the past decade. For some of those players, it could be their final home Ashes, so they will be determined to go out on a high.

Khawaja (496) was Australia's leading run scorer in the 2023 Ashes, while Head (362), Smith (373) and Labuschagne (328) all scored over 300. Starc, meanwhile, took a team-high 23 wickets.

With Josh Hazlewood joining Cummins on the sidelines for the first Test, the onus will be on Starc to lead Australia's attack in Perth.

Hazlewood, who is on 295 Test wickets overall, has taken 76 against England, while 91 of Cummins' 309 dismissals in the format have come in the Ashes.

Starc, though, is on 97 Ashes wickets, so he requires just three to hit a century. His haul has come across 22 matches against England.

Scott Boland will also hope to add to his 20 wickets against England.

Boland has taken 62 Test wickets, averaging a wicket every 16.53 runs. Only George Lohmann and Sydney Barnes can boast a better average in the longest format. Boland is on 49 wickets on home soil.

Spinner Lyon, meanwhile, is on 262 Test wickets. He needs just two more to surpass Glenn McGrath (563) and take second place in the all-time Australia record books, behind the late, great Shane Warne (708).

This will be the first Ashes match held at the Perth Stadium. Australia have won their last eight Tests against England in Western Australia. 

Their only loss in 14 such Tests was in December 1978 (by 166 runs).

All five men's Tests at Perth Stadium have been won by the team batting first on the day with Australia picking up four wins and one loss in that frame and all five matches decided by a margin of 140+ runs.

Australia have won seven of their last eight Tests, including their last three in a row, but their last defeat in the format came in the Final of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-2025 (by five wickets vs South Africa).

Playing in Perth also suits Australia's stand-in captain, Smith. He has scored 611 runs at an average of 87.3 across his last nine first-class innings in Western Australia, including two double-centuries, one of which came against England in 2017 (239).

Smith is 451 runs away from becoming Australia's third-highest Test run scorer.

With 3,417 runs against England to his name, Smith will also be aiming to overtake Allan Border (3,548) and Jack Hobbs (3,636) to move into second in the all-time list for Ashes runs, behind Don Bradman (5,028).

Bazball Still Going Strong

England have played seven Test series since the end of the 2023 Ashes, winning four of them, drawing one, and suffering two defeats (to India and Pakistan, respectively).

While McCullum and Stokes have perhaps put the handbrake on somewhat compared to the early months of their tenure, when England get into their groove, they can dismantle any team with the bat.

A standout performance came in Manchester earlier this year, as England put on 669 against India – the fifth-highest Test score in their history. Ultimately, it did not count for much, though, as India held on for a draw.

Stokes and Root put on huge scores as part of that effort, but there has been some scrutiny on the latter ahead of this series.

Much of that has focused on Root's failure, so far, to score a Test century on Australian soil.

The 34-year-old has plundered 2,428 runs against Australia in the format, only managing more against India (3,383).

However, none of his four centuries against Australia have come away from home.

Root sits on 13,543 Test runs, ranking behind only Sachin Tendulkar (15,921). Australia's media might be taking a swipe at the former England skipper, but the Baggy Greens will know that an in-form Root will pose them severe problems.

He has scored 571 runs in six matches in 2025, with that haul including two centuries against India.

Ben Duckett, meanwhile, has scored two centuries and three half-centuries across 10 Test innings in 2025, and has made a strong connection on 13.7% of his 691 balls faced so far this year, the joint highest rate of any player to face at least 150 deliveries (along with Jamie Smith).

While England skipper Stokes is set to be back bowling after dealing with injuries earlier in the year, this will be the first Ashes series in many a year in which James Anderson and Stuart Broad will play no part. So the tourists need their new boys to step up on the biggest stage.

England have won five of their last 10 Tests, but Australia have won eight of their last 10.

And England have not fared well on their travels as of late, losing seven of their last 10 Tests away from home.

However, England have a batting strike rate of 70.2 in Tests since the end of the last Ashes series, at least 11 higher than any other team in that time (South Africa, 58.5). 

Australia may be favourites, but England are well poised to put up a much sterner fight than last time around.