Ashes 2025 live: England and Australia name first Test teams including big decision over Mark Wood

The prospect of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer teaming up for just the second time in Test cricket has everyone excited but Gus Atkinson will also be a crucial part of the seam attack.

And Atkinson, who has taken 63 wickets at 22.07 in 13 appearances – including a hat-trick against New Zealand last winter and eight in his most recent outing against India – is content to stay out of the firing line.

“I’m not sure it’s a mistake…it’s been like that a bit so far in my career, in the background and I don’t mind that at all,” he said.

“Jofra and Woody are amazing bowlers and they’ll be huge for us this series.

“You hear about it (Tests in Australia) in the past and it’s all ‘pace, pace, pace; but we’re hearing lately a bit more seam movement. For me personally, it’s nice to hear that. That’s something I’m looking forward to.”

The first Test gets underway this Friday and here’s how the schedule for the whole series looks this year

First Test, Optus Stadium in Perth: 21-25 November (UK start time: 2.20am GMT)

Second Test, Gabba in Brisbane: 4-8 December (4.30am)

Third Test, Adelaide Oval in Adelaide: 17-21 December (12am)

Fourth Test, MCG in Melbourne: 26-30 December (11.30pm, 25 December)

Fifth Test, SCG in Sydney: 4-8 January (11.30pm, 3 January)

Mark Wood looks set to start the opening Ashes Test for England against Australia as part of a five-man pace attack after being named in the 12-man squad.

X-factor bowler Wood has faced a race against time to prove his fitness after undergoing surgery earlier this year. He recovered enough to travel Down Under but only completed eight overs of the warm-up match against England Lions at Lilac Hill before tweaking his hamstring.

However, a scan on the issue came back all clear earlier this week and that has set him up to be part of an all-seam attack, providing he can properly prove his fitness in the nets over the next 48 hours.

The seam-friendly nature of the pitch at Optus Stadium in Perth has made this a viable strategy and Wood is set to start as part of a bowling unit alongside fellow pacemen Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson and Ben Stokes. It would be the fastest bowling attack England have put out in recent memory, with the absolute fastest of those – Wood and Archer –having only ever played one Test together before.

Ok, the 12-man England squad for the first Ashes Test, starting on Friday, has been released and the big news is that MARK WOOD IS IN!

Providing he proves his fitness over the next 48 hours, that means he will likely start as part of a five-man pace attack alongside Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson and Ben Stokes.

Shoaib Bashir is also in the squad but surely slated for 12th man duties, given the seam-friendly nature of the Perth pitch and his struggles in recent times.

That means there’s no place for Will Jacks, so the mooted idea of him being selected to extend the batting line-up, and provide a part-time spin option, hasn’t come to fruition.

As expected, Ollie Pope has seen off Jacob Bethell, so will take the No 3 spot in the line-up.

England’s 12-player squad:

There was a simplicity to the statement. Australian cricket has a capacity for straight talking and Dan Christian, the all-rounder who came out of retirement last winter to figure in the Big Bash in his forties, tended to justify the presence of veterans in four words: “Old blokes win stuff”. It was his philosophy in Twenty20 tournaments and he won them in four different countries, often in his late thirties.

Since then, it is an attitude that seems to have spread across Australian cricket. Young blokes are conspicuous by their absence. When Australia last played a Test at home, it was without anyone in their twenties: the teenager Sam Konstas was accompanied by 10 thirtysomethings. When they named their squad for the first Ashes Test in Perth, Konstas was dropped, the 31-year-old Jake Weatherald selected and the 26-year-old Cameron Green was the only man below 30, joined by 14 of his elders. The Cameron Green generation consists of only Cameron Green.

Phil Tufnell, the former England slow left-armer, has offered a unique perspective on the notorious hostility of Australian crowds during the Ashes, urging the current England squad to embrace the unforgiving environment.

His advice comes as anticipation for the series, which begins this Friday with the first Test at Perth’s Optus Stadium, reaches fever pitch, with figures like Ben Stokes and Joe Root already facing media baiting.

His message to the current England team is clear: “Embrace it, love it. All the hard work comes down to this, so don’t let a bit of chat put you off your stroke, embrace it and let it bring the best out of you.”

“Australia have been so strong and so consistent in their team selection over the last 10 years, that this probably is their weakest team (in the last 15 years),” Anderson told TNT Sports.

“There are doubts around who’s going to bat in the top three, Pat Cummins missing is huge. There are question marks there, definitely, and there are cracks that England could potentially expose. There’s a great chance for England to get on top early.

“I don’t think England are quite favourites, I’d say Australia are still favourites, in Australia. There’s still a lot of quality in their batting line-up, there’s still a lot of quality with their bowlers as well, even if Cummins is missing.”

“So I think they probably just edge out England in terms of being favourites, but I don’t think there’s much in it. It’s a tough one to call, so I’d say Australia, just.”

An Ashes series full of unpredictability, exciting cricket and “cataclysmic collapses” awaits, according to BBC statistician Andy Zaltzman.

England go in search of their first win Down Under since the 2010-11 series, having drawn the last two home series.

Test Match Special contributor Zaltzman told the PA news agency: “It’s quite hard to predict. I veer between quite confident optimism and the innate pessimism of someone who grew up watching English cricket.

“What no one in this squad has ever done is win a Test in Australia. Between them they’ve had zero wins and 28 match losses – and that sounds ominous!

“I think you always want to try and take down the best players,” said the veteran seamer, who is set to stand in for injured captain Pat Cummins on Friday.

“In the past when Joe Root was captain you always wanted to try and take (him) down…make sure they have as little impact as you can.

“Obviously England have quite a few good batters but hopefully we can keep Joe Root and the guys in the middle order quiet.”

Chris Tremlett has experienced both sides of the Ashes.

There was unbridled joy in 2010/11, when Andrew Strauss’s England cricket side became the first English team to win a series down under in 24 years.

And then unrivalled misery four years later when Mitchell Johnson subjected England to an examination they had no answer to.