Ashes

For Root, the innings victory sealed inside three days against Pakistan was the ideal start to his second spell as captain.

It also extended England’s run of wins at Headingley, which began in 2018. Their longest winning streak at another ground is six at Chester-le-Street.

The decision for Headingley and Old Trafford to miss out on the 2027 Ashes roster was announced in 2023.

But the match allocation has once again come into focus after the schedule for next year’s series was confirmed in July.

Nottingham’s Trent Bridge will be the most northerly ground to host a men’s Ashes Test, with Southampton given an England-Australia Test for the first time. Headingley will instead play host to a women’s Ashes Test.

Headingley staged a men’s Ashes Test in 2019 and 2023, both matches England won. The 2019 win, inspired by Ben Stokes, was one of the most legendary contests in Ashes history, ranking alongside Ian Botham’s heroics of 1981 on the same ground.

Overall, England’s record of nine home Ashes wins in Leeds is bettered only by their 17 at The Oval, and The Oval has hosted 36 Ashes Tests compared to Headingley’s 26.

“I would love to play as many games as possible here,” said Root. “It’s a great Test-match venue, a surface that provides brilliant Test cricket, and one we’ve had quite a lot of success on recently.

“It’s a shame we don’t get to play here next year, but I’m sure we will see many, many more brilliant Test matches here.”

Headingley will next host a men’s Ashes Test in 2031, from when the England and Wales Cricket has said it will keep at least one Test in Leeds or Manchester in the allocation for every home Ashes series. Southampton will get a Test in alternate men’s home Ashes.

Ex-Australia batter Hussey said he was informally approached by Stephen Flemming, England’s new red-ball coach.

Australian great Mike Hussey could face his own country in the Ashes after saying he was open to joining England as their Test batting coach.

England host Australia in the Ashes in June, July and August next year, looking to take possession of the urn for the first time since 2015.

Hussey has had an informal approach from England’s new red-ball coach Stephen Fleming, the duo having spent 15 years as teammates and then coaches at Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings.

“We obviously get on really well and work a lot together,” former Test stalwart Hussey told Fox Sports, where he is employed as a commentator.

“So it was just a bit of a passing comment, really saying, ‘Look, what do you reckon? Would you think about being the batting coach?’”

Hussey, known as “Mr Cricket” for his technical expertise, has just returned home after coaching Welsh Fire in The Hundred and said he had not given it proper consideration yet.

“To be honest, I have not been able to give it any thought whatsoever,” he said.

“Would I? I mean, I wouldn’t say never to anything really. I just love the coaching side of the game, and just to be able to work with different players.”

Should Hussey accept, it could see him plotting the downfall of Australia with Fleming when they tour England for the Ashes series next year.

Hussey admitted it would “feel a bit weird”.

“I have worked with England once before at the T20 World Cup (in 2022), and I must admit it did feel very weird pulling on that training shirt for the first time,” he said.

“But once you get in the nets and you start working with players, you sort of almost forget what shirt you’ve got on.

“So, look, I haven’t fully considered anything at this stage. I’m sort of just trying to take a bit of a break from it all at the moment and will give it some thought in due course.”

Fleming was appointed coach in late July following the sacking of fellow New Zealander Brendon McCullum, who remains in charge of England’s white-ball teams.

England and Australia will not play Tests in the north of England after Old Trafford and Headingley not chosen to host.

There will be no Ashes matches in the north of England next year, when Australia arrive for Test cricket’s oldest rivalry.

Headingley in Leeds and Manchester’s Old Trafford have both staged some of the most dramatic clashes in the long history of Ashes cricket.

Don Bradman, arguably cricket’s greatest batsman, scored two triple centuries at Headingley in the 1930s.

Both grounds played host to remarkable individual feats by England hero Ian Botham during the 1981 Ashes series.

Headingley was also the venue for a remarkable unbeaten century by England’s Ben Stokes in a one-wicket win during the 2019 series.

But both venues have been left off the schedule for the 2027 Ashes – a decision criticised by new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, then the mayor of Greater Manchester – when it was announced in 2023.

The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed on Thursday the exact fixture list for next year’s Ashes, with all five matches limited to the Midlands and south of England.

Hampshire’s Rose Bowl, near Southampton, will stage its first Ashes Test from July 21 – the fourth of the series.

It will become the 10th ground in the United Kingdom to stage a men’s Ashes Test.

The series will start at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on June 18, with Lord’s – as is traditional – staging the second Test on June 30 and Edgbaston in Birmingham the third on July 8.

The Ashes will conclude at the Oval in south London with the July 29-August 2 Test.

Old Trafford and Headingley are both set to stage Ashes Tests in 2031.

Australia triumphed 4-1 on home soil during the 2025-26 Ashes. The last Ashes series in England ended in a 2-2 draw in 2023.

England’s last Ashes series success was a 3-2 home victory in 2015.

They are also due to play a one-off Test against Bangladesh at Lord’s from May 28.

The 2027 World Test Championship final will be held at the Oval starting on June 9, the second time the venue has hosted the title match.

England men v Pakistan

15 May: First ODI, Southampton, 11:00

19 May: Second ODI, Old Trafford, 13:00

21 May: Third ODI, Headingley, 11:00

23 May: Fourth ODI, Durham, 11:00

26 May: Fifth ODI, Cardiff, 13:00

England men v Bangladesh

28 May-1 June: One-off Test, Lord’s, 11:00

England men v New Zealand

7 Sept: First T20, Durham, 18:30

9 Sept: Second T20, Old Trafford, 18:30

11 Sept: Third T20, Cardiff, 14:30

14 Sept: First ODI, Edgbaston, 12:30

16 Sept: Second ODI, Lord’s, 12:30

19 Sept: Third ODI, Bristol, 10:30

22 Sept: Fourth ODI, Trent Bridge, 12:30

25 Sept: Fifth ODI, Headingley, 10:30

England women v Bangladesh

8 Sept: First T20, Northampton, 18:30

10 Sept: Second T20, Taunton, 18:30

12 Sept: Third T20, Worcester, 14:30

17 Sept: First ODI, Hove, 12:30

21 Sept: Second ODI, Canterbury, 12:30

24 Sept: Third ODI, Chelmsford, 12:30