Ultimate Guide: All you need to know for the Ashes

How are the sides shaping up?  

Eight hundred and thirteen days after Australia lifted the replica Ashes urn at the Oval, we're almost ready to do it all again! 

Australia have had an unusual build-up, with a change in leadership the biggest story from the squad. The Aussies lost their captain and wicketkeeper Tim Paine following the Tasmanian's sexting scandal, just over two weeks out from the first ball of the Ashes. 

A fair chunk of the group recently returned from a successful T20 World Cup campaign, meaning the extended Test squad has only recently been able to link up.

Somewhat unusually for the first Test of the summer, new skipper Pat Cummins announced the XI that he'll take into the Brisbane match several days out from the coin toss.

England meanwhile have now been in the country for a month after completing their fortnight quarantine period on the Gold Coast. 

Heavy Queensland rain has interrupted both sides’ preparations.

How can I watch or listen? 

You've got options galore! 

Channel 7 and Foxtel will be broadcasting every ball of the series and for those who want to stream it, Kayo Sports will have you covered. 

On radio, ABC Grandstand, SEN and Triple M will all cover the Ashes series too.

It won't matter where you are in the country, just open up the CA Live app and stream those radio broadcasts to your heart's content.

For broadcast details around the world, including an exciting streaming partnership with the ICC, click here.

What about live scores, news and highlights?

Cricket.com.au and the CA Live app will have live scores for every Test as well as wicket replays in the match centre to go with extended video highlights, reports and interviews from our reporters throughout the series.

You can also catch up on all the latest news via The Unplayable Podcast, where we will be joined by special guests to dissect all the talking points throughout the summer. Listen and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts and anywhere else you get your pods!

Cricket royalty Ricky Ponting is also back on board with cricket.com.au this summer and he'll be providing his expert insights each day of the series, including daily episodes of The Unplayable Podcast.

Cricket.com.au is again collaborating with Google and WSC to provide in-running match highlights of the Ashes via the Google Web Stories feature.

Users worldwide who 'Google' the game will be instantly served video highlights of key moments in a mobile-friendly format via Google's OneBox.

Make sure you're following @cricketcomau on social media to get the best bits of every match direct to your feed as well. 

Any day-night Tests? 

Yep! 

Adelaide will again host the pink-ball day-night Test match, with that fixture running from December 16-20. 

It will be the second Ashes Test to be played under lights. If you want a refresher on what happened in the corresponding fixture last time around, also in Adelaide, check it out below.

The Perth Test is officially off the schedule too after CA announced it would be too difficult to host a Test match in Western Australia due to pandemic-relation restrictions. The location of that fifth and final Test is still up in the air. Expect some fierce lobbying in the coming days, if not weeks!

Here's a look at the fixture for the Vodafone Ashes series as it stands: 

First Test: December 8-12, The Gabba, Brisbane

Second Test: December 16-20, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG, Melbourne

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG, Sydney

Fifth Test: January 14-18, TBC 

Day one in Brisbane is officially sold out, and other venues are selling fast too.Secure your tickets now clicking here.

What are the must-read pieces? 

Every Ashes series has a villain for many years Stuart Broad has been that for Aussie fans. Now on his fourth tour of Australia, Broad says he's found strength from the hostility of the local crowds.

Josh Hazlewood looms as Australia's key bowler after being left out of the opening Test of the last Ashes. Read about his rise to the top here. 

Nathan Lyon has been in the Australian team for a decade now, and he can thank Ricky Ponting and Usman Khawaja for a vote of confidence that propelled him into the side.

On the cusp of an all-time Test record, is this the summer Joe Root establishes himself as an Ashes legend? 

Form guide 

Australia haven't played a Test match since January, when they lost by three wickets to India in Brisbane. 

On the other hand, 2021 has been busy for England. They headed to Sri Lanka in January and clean swept the hosts 2-0, then lost 3-1 to India in February-March. They followed that up with home series defeats to New Zealand and India, firstly losing 1-0 to the eventual World Test champions, the Kiwis, and then losing 2-1 to India after four Tests. The fifth Test of that series, scheduled for Manchester, was postponed due to positive Covid cases in the Indian camp.

All up England have played 12, won four, lost six and drawn two in this calendar year. 

What about after the series? 

England won't be hanging around for any white-ball series, instead New Zealand and Sri Lanka will be Australia's opponents for the shorter formats when the Ashes is done. 

However, the women's Ashes begins on January 27, so there's plenty more Australia v England to come. 

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

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

England: Joe Root (c), 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, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: December 8-12, The Gabba

Second Test: December 16-20, Adelaide Oval

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, TBC