Ashes 2025/26 will commence on November 21. Here are the bowlers touted to become the leading wicket-takers.
England had won the 2015 Ashes, but Australia regained the urn with a 4-0 win at home in 2017/18. They have continued to hold on to it since then, after a 2-2 draw in England in 2019, another 4-0 win at home in 2021/22, and another 2-2 draw in England in 2023.
In the previous edition of the Ashes, in 2023, Mitchell Starc had finished as the leading wicket-taker, with 23 wickets at 27.08. Stuart Broad (22) and Chris Woakes (19) were next, followed by Pat Cummins (18) and Josh Hazlewood (16). Among these, Broad and Woakes have retired, while Cummins will miss the first Test of the Ashes.
Jim Laker took 46 wickets in the 1956 Ashes, highlighted by the 19-wicket haul in the Old Trafford Test match. That remains a series record in the Ashes. The others to cross the 40-mark are all Australians: Terry Alderman (42 in 1981, 41 in 1989), Rodney Hogg (41 in 1979/80), and Shane Warne (40 in 2005).
Barring Warne (who also took 31 wickets in 2001), the only other bowler to take 30 wickets in an Ashes series is Mitchell Johnson (37 in 2013/14).
Ashes 2025/26: Who is likely to finish as the leading run-scorer?
With odds of 3.25 as per Betway, Jofra Archer is the likeliest to finish as England’s leading wicket-taker in the 2025/26 Ashes. Archer is followed by Gus Atkinson (3.5), Josh Tongue (4), Brydon Carse (4.75), Ben Stokes (5.5), Shoaib Bashir (6.5), Mark Wood (7.5), and Matthew Potts (7.5).
Starc (3), on the other hand, is tipped as the leading run-scorer for Australia by a comfortable margin. The next on the list are Nathan Lyon (3.5), Hazlewood (3.6), Scott Boland (3.75), and Cummins (5.5).
