A selection of writers and broadcasters tell us how the 2025/26 Ashes will be won.
Jason Gillespie
Australia seamer turned coach and broadcaster
I think Australia, in Australian conditions, deservedly start as favourites. There are question marks over their top three but I think that will be sorted pretty quickly. I expect Marnus Labuschagne to bat three, with Cameron Green dropping down to the middle-order, and it will be a toss-up between Sam Konstas and Jake Weatherald to partner Usman Khawaja.
When I look at England, I'm actually a bit surprised they've only picked one frontline spinner. I understand that in Australia it's harder to bowl spin than in other parts of the world but it suggests to me that England are a bit worried about their top three. If they lose a couple of wickets early, they expose Joe Root, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes to a relatively new ball. It puts a lot of pressure on Duckett, Crawley and Pope or Bethell. There's a lot of pressure on those guys to get England off to a good start. They'll need to absorb some good bowling. They want to get on with it and score quickly but they've also got to bat time. Can they do that? Time will tell but I think if England lose two or three wickets inside the first 20 overs, they could be in trouble.
I think it will be a close series but with Sydney a washout as it quite often is, I'm going to go 2-1 or 3-1 Australia.
Lawrence Booth
Wisden Almanack Editor and WCM columnist
This one is tougher than ever to call. The fact that Australian pitches have recently had more spice than usual means the series could be decided by whichever team counter-attacks best with the bat: a quick 70 from Nº7 could change the course of a match. That won't especially bother England. But they still face a problem: how many runs will their top-order make, even against an attack in which Scott Boland is standing in for Pat Cummins?
Australia's own top-order looks vulnerable, despite Marnus Labuschagne's early-season form with Queensland, and England are arriving with a busful of quicks. But I fancy the Australians' hall-of-fame bowling unit to dig them out of trouble more often than not. There's a reason England have won only series there since 1986/87, and that's because it's extremely hard to beat Australia over three matches, let alone five - and let alone in their own backyard. For that reason, and regardless of all the English optimism, I'm going for 3-1 to Australia.
Yas Rana
Wisden podcast host and Wisden.com head of content
For all the justified excitement around the England pace attack - fitness permitting, the best equipped English cohort of seamers to tour Australia since 2010/11 - this is a massive step up for a batting line-up lacking experience down under. This is a first Ashes tour for Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith and Jacob Bethell. Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, meanwhile, averaged a combined 19.41 across 12 innings when they toured four years ago. With that in mind, a series win would be an extraordinary achievement.
That said, I will be really surprised if England don't win at least one Test. Jofra Archer looked sharp towards the end of the summer and his exceptional record against left-handers should be more than useful. Joe Root has been in such a good touch in recent months that another century-less tour would be an aberration.
For Australia, I'd expect their usual suspects to do the bulk of the damage. Steve Smith has looked frighteningly close to his best since his hundred at the Gabba last December, while it feels like Josh Hazlewood is due a real statement series that befits his decade-long new-ball excellence. I'm going 3-1 Australia.
Damien Fleming
Australian seamer turned broadcaster
Speaking to a mate of mine a couple of days ago, Glenn McGrath, he shocked me. He's become more refined in his older age. He went 5-0. I could live with 3-2, but it would annoy me if we lose two. I'll go Australia 4-1.
My gut feeling is this is a better England team, the best one for a while. I can't remember an Ashes series over here with England having a more settled side than Australia. Archer and Wood's pace is a significant advantage. England would love to have one Test where they play both but I think they'll rotate them. Their fast-mediums will enjoy bowling in our conditions but spin's a worry for them. The remarkable Nathan Lyon has been able to find a way.
Phil Walker
WCM editor-in-chief
I'm going there. Australia 1-3 England. Or maybe 2-3. Or two apiece. Or a whitewash... either way. Hell knows. I see implosions. Meltdowns. Blow-ups. Plugs abruptly pulled. State-commissioned reports. Things always unravel one way or another. England need luck, and a team of legendary physios, to keep at least four of their six quicks fit for the duration. If Archer and Wood go down early, forget it. But if they can dovetail through to the end of the series, with wicket-takers (Tongue in particular) in support, then anything's possible.
The big discrepancy is the spinners. Nathan Lyon, across 10 years at home, takes his wickets at 30. Opposition spinners, combined average: 63. Too good by half. How do they play him? One option: park their egos and keep the ball on the carpet. If Lyon has a big series, Australia will hold. Long-game him and, well, who knows.
And so to Harry Brook. The Aussies have decided he's not up to much. The English disagree. Play smart - and respect the sheer distance of those square boundaries. Brook could be the catalyst that sparks the revolution; or (as a wise geezer once sang) an inmate in a long-term institution. There's a lot riding on him, and them, and all of it. At least this time they have the players.
Aadya Sharma
Wisden India Editor
There's a certain spark in this English team that might see them fare better than their predecessors, but I'm still expecting the hosts to edge them: Australia 2-1.
Two draws in the Bazball world might seem unlikely, but I'm banking on Australia's batters to grind out big totals, and England's to implode at least twice. England's pace battery ran flat at times in India in 2024: they might not have it in them to have a lasting impact through the five Tests. Australia are slightly aged and rusty and will have a Cummins-shaped hole for at least part of the series, but it's difficult to see them losing at home given their bowling depth.
Katya Witney
Wisden senior writer
Labuschagne is suddenly piling on the runs again and is my tip to top the run-scoring charts, though the ever-dependable Root might not be too far behind. Starc blew hot-and-cold against India, but in Cummins' absence I'm expecting him to go full throttle.
Every fibre of my being is willing it to be an England win. Joe Root's going to score loads, how could he not? Even knowing he hasn't scored a century in Australia, I wrack my brain for an image of him raising his bat at the MCG, certain it must have happened. It feels like a matter of time before that omission is corrected. Regardless of the scoreline, he'll come out of it as England's leading run-scorer.
As for Australia, the old bogeymen Smith and Labuschagne spell trouble. Labuschagne has scored millions in domestic cricket over the last few weeks, while Smith's output has been trending up, and a big summer awaits. The bowlers are trickier to assess, given that it's very hard to see anyone playing all five. Whoever plays, this time England have the fire to match them. But no matter how much my heart yearns for it, I don't have it in me to predict an England series win. Perhaps one Test will have to do. 3-1 Australia.
Jo Harman
WCM magazine editor
Stuart Broad's assessment that this is the worst Australian side to appear in an Ashes Down Under since the 2010/11 tour and England's best is probably a fair call, but I'm still not sure that's going to be enough to swing it for Stokes' men. To win in Australia is hard enough; to do it with a flaky top three (Duckett aside) and a frontline spinner who's still very much a work in progress - and may not even play if they opt for the part-time off-breaks of Will Jacks - feels a stretch.
England's signature performances under Stokes and McCullum have come when their batters have been able to bully the opposition and I don't see them being able to do that to Australia's attack, on what are likely to be some juicy tracks, with enough consistency to take the series. They'll need to show more of the pragmatism we saw signs of this summer against India if they're to sustain a challenge over five Tests.
I expect both top-orders to struggle against high-quality pace bowling meaning the series could well be decided by the kingpin match-ups of Smith v Root and Head v Brook. Smith and Head both have exceptional records on home soil so the Yorkshire duo will need to be at their very best to win their respective duels.
For all the progress England have made in the last three-and-a-half years, their record overseas remains patchy (two series wins from five in that time, with eight Tests won and eight lost). They'll need to show a ruthless streak we've yet to see from them if they're to take this one. With a heavy heart, Australia 3-2.
Andrew Miller
UK editor of ESPNcricinfo and WCM columnist
England 3-1. Australia don't know their best batting line-up, let alone the order they are due to come in. And while their bowling remains terrifying on paper, the doubts about their age and fitness will only ramp up if England can come out swinging, as they surely will. For the first time in three tours, they are not trying to redefine madness by falling back on the same tactics and expecting a different result. They have 90mph quicks coming out of their ears, and - touch wood - a fit-again Stokes whose bowling could be the decisive point of difference. All bets are off if he breaks himself after half a Test, obviously.
Daniel Gallan
South African writer
This Ashes will be fierce and close - closer than any down under since 2010/11. Even without Pat Cummins, Australia's bowling is elite, and built for home conditions. But their top-order is as fragile as it's been in 30 years and could put immense pressure on Steve Smith. England will back their game. Their batters will attack from the start and keep going.
It's risky, but it's their best shot and they'll target Scott Boland. If one of Jofra Archer or Mark Wood can play every Test, England have the pace to change matches. Still, Australia at home are hard to beat. Their bowlers will win them tight games, enough to go 2-1 up, with England hitting back in the final Test to make it 2-2. The urn stays in Australia, but England prove they can go toe-to-toe.
Adam Collins
Writer, broadcaster and WCM's Australia correspondent
Australia 4-1. A comfortable win for the hosts would be a dull outcome and a profoundly anticlimactic way to end the Bazball cycle. An Ashes series in Australia hasn't gone the distance since 1982/83, with most of the scraps since one-sided - including the couple where England saluted.
So, to borrow from Fox Mulder, I want to believe that everything works out for Stokes and Baz and co. That they hit just as many bombs as they do fairways, catch a Cummins-less Australia on the hop in Perth, get it nipping around under lights at Brisbane and we get ourselves one of those series that rolls off the tongue for decades. I want to see the nets of London packed with people who haven't played for years, inspired into giving the game another go. I'd give anything for this to be the moment that helps course-correct against the scariest stuff that might come next in the franchise universe.
Scoreline guesses are dull; ignore mine. Hope it's wrong. But 2-2 going to Sydney? Let's will that into existence. Let's believe, for now. And putting my bleeding heart to one side? I'd be surprised, if pitches remain as they have of late in Australia, if any Test makes it to the fifth day.
John Stern
WCM editor-at-large
Australia 3-1. I'd love to be wrong but I don't quite trust England enough and their record doesn't suggest they've got the discipline or cohesive plan to win a series like this. Pat Cummins' fitness obviously tilts the balance but I'm unsure by how much. And that story has overshadowed the issues around Ben Stokes - five Tests in the heat of an Ashes battle? Seems a stretch.
I suspect that spicy pitches will favour Australia's pacers more than England's and that Joe Root will have to do a huge amount of heavy lifting at No.4. I'm hoping for a big series from Harry Brook, despite his 'happy hooker' proclivities. Travis Head will be a thorn in England's side and Mitchell Starc will be lethal with the new ball (red or pink).
This article first appeared in Edition 92 of the Wisden Cricket Monthly.
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