England gear up for Ashes 2025, announce 16-member squad for highly anticipated Aussie challenge

In what seems to be a big piece of news for the ardent cricket lovers, the England and Wales Cricket Board have announced the 16-member squad of England for the iconic Ashes series. The Ashes 2025-26 will commence with the first Test on the 21st of November in Perth. The veteran all-rounder Ben Stokes will be back to lead the side in the highly anticipated biennial Test rivalry.

Notably, the England skipper has been through a recovery from a shoulder injury, which forced him to stay out of the fifth Test of the five-match home Test series against India last month. Besides that, a relieving news for England cricket fans is that the spinner Shoaib Bashir and the star pacer Mark Wood are back in the squad for the high-stakes Test battle down under. Bashir was ruled out in the middle of the five-match Test series against India after he injured his finger during the third Test at Lord’s. Similarly, Wood is also set to make his Test comeback after a long time, as he was away from the game due to recovery from a left knee injury.

Apart from announcing their squad for the Ashes, England have also announced their squad for the upcoming limited-over assignments against New Zealand from October 18th to November 1st. The white-ball team will be led by the recently appointed skipper Harry Brook, who took charge after Jos Buttler stepped down from captaincy following England’s Champions Trophy 2025 debacle.

Here's a look at the England squad for the Ashes 2025 against Australia:

Ben Stokes (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Mark Wood.

Here’s a look at the England squad for the ODIs and T20Is against New Zealand:

ODIs: Harry Brook (c), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Luke Wood.

T20Is: Harry Brook (c), Rehan Ahmed, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Luke Wood.