West Test to launch 2025-26 Ashes summer

England will launch their Australian Ashes campaign next summer at Perth Stadium where they have not previously played a Test, and in the city where their only victory in the battle for the urn came in 1978.

The schedule for next summer's five-Test NRMA Insurance men's Ashes series was released by Cricket Australia today with the opener to be played at Perth Stadium from November 21-25, 2025.

The announcement has been made more than a year before the first ball is bowled in Test cricket's oldest rivalry to maximise opportunities for fans to plan their travel and is in line with CA's seven-year scheduling plan revealed earlier this year.

For updates on ticket release timings and priority access, register here.

The 'West Test' will be followed by the first day-night Ashes fixture to be staged at the Gabba in Brisbane (December 4-8), followed by the now-traditional trifecta of pre-Christmas Test (Adelaide Oval, December 17-21), Boxing Day Test (MCG, December 26-30) and New Year's Test (SCG, January 4-8, 2026).

For the first time in more than four decades, the Ashes battle will begin at a ground other than the Gabba and at what will become the eighth Australian Ashes venue since the inaugural encounter between the nations in 1877.

Perth Stadium was to have hosted the fifth Test of the Covid impacted summer of 2020-21, but that match was switched to Hobart's Bellerive Oval (also a first-time Ashes venue) due to Western Australia's strict quarantine requirements during the pandemic.

The last time an Ashes campaign in Australia started in a city other than Brisbane was 1982-83 when the historic foes resumed their rivalry at the WACA Ground.

That game ended in a bat-dominated draw and is infamous for the shoulder injury sustained by swing bowler Terry Alderman when he tackled a spectator who had run on to the field.

Australia have won the past eight Ashes Tests fought out in Perth, two of them by an innings with the closest result being England's 150-run loss in 2013-14 when Australia regained the urn.

The second Test at the Gabba will be Brisbane's fourth day-night men's Test after previous matches against Pakistan (2016), Sri Lanka (2019) and West Indies (2024).

Cricket Australia announced last week that pink-ball games would also return to the Sheffield Shield schedule this summer after a seven-year hiatus, with day-night fixtures at the Gabba and Adelaide Oval next month, and Bellerive Oval in March.

Australia won their first 11 day-night Tests until Shamar Joseph inspired a famous West Indies victory in their most recent fixture last January, but men's national selection panel chair George Bailey noted that record has largely been forged by established players who benefited from high exposure to the pink ball early in their careers.

"If you look at the next generation of players coming through, we haven't played pink-ball cricket domestically for a period of time so do you risk losing that competitive advantage if you don't keep exposing them?" Bailey told cricket.com.au.

"If Australia is going to be a country that wants to keep pursuing day-night cricket then you want to make it as strong a competitive advantage as you can.

"And secondly, if we're going to keep playing at these venues (Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart) in day-night Test matches you want to give curators there a chance to work out how they make the best wickets for that format."

The decision to play the 2025-26 Ashes pink-ball match in Brisbane means Adelaide will host its first daytime Ashes encounter since 2013.

That Test is remembered for Mitchell Johnson's brutal dismemberment of England's batting as he claimed 7-40 in the first innings to underpin Australia's 218-run triumph.

The 2013-14 whitewash by Australia also marked the start of England's current 15-Test winless streak on enemy turf, the longest unsuccessful stretch by the visitors Down Under in the Ashes' 147-year history.

Since their most recent victory in Australia at the SCG in 2011, England have chalked up 13 losses and managed two draws while Australia's record in the UK over the same period is six wins and four draws from 20 Tests.

Australia have held the Ashes since winning them back on home soil in 2017-18.

"The 2025-26 Ashes dates align with our recently released seven-year international schedule and we are grateful for the support state and territory governments are providing to enhance and grow our major events," CA's executive general manager of events and operations, Joel Morrison, said in Perth today.

"The history and excitement of the Ashes make it one of world's most iconic sporting events and we are delighted this fierce an electrifying rivalry will extend over two summers in 2025 – commencing with CommBank women's Ashes this summer, which includes the historic MCG day-night Test, and culminates in the men's Ashes next summer.

"We have been inundated with requests from fans around the world wanting to travel to Australia and attend the 2025-26 Ashes series and we urge everyone to register with the Australian Cricket Family for priority access to tickets or visit the CA Travel Office to book in their travel."

Tickets for the 2025-26 NRMA Insurance men's Ashes series will go on sale next year. Fans looking to travel to matches can register for updates about ticket release timings and priority access here.