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The Ashes 2023

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(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Without doubt cricket’s most important Test Series, The Ashes competition was founded in 1882 and is played by cricket’s oldest Test nations, England and Australia.

The 2023 Ashes Series began in England on June 16, 2023 and finished on July 31, 2023. The next series will be held in Australia during the summer of 2025/26.

Traditionally, the England Ashes series features the Second Test at Lord’s and the Fifth and final Test at The Oval, both in London, with the remainder of the matches rotated around England and occasionally in Cardiff, Wales.

The First Test was again played at Edgbaston in Birmingham, while the Third Test was played at Headingley in Leeds and the Fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester. This was an identical schedule to the 2019 series, which was tied 2-2.

Australia have currently held the Ashes since December 2017, meaning England had to win the series to regain the urn.

Australia retained the Ashes after the fourth Test at Old Trafford was drawn due to heavy rain in Manchester, after winning a thrilling first Test at Edgbaston by two wickets and an equally extraordinary second Test at Lord’s by 43 runs, before England stayed in the series with a three-wicket victory at Headingley.

However, they were unable to achieve their other aim of securing an Ashes series win in England for the first time since 2001, losing a tight fifth Test at The Oval by 49 runs to see it squared 2-2, just as it had been in 2019.

View the First Test scoreboard

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View the Second Test scoreboard

View the Third Test scoreboard

View the Fourth Test scoreboard

View the Fifth Test scoreboard

2023 Ashes series

Fixture Dates Venue
First Test Jun 16-20 Edgbaston, Birmingham
Second Test  Jun 28- Jul 2 Lord’s, London
Third Test Jul 6-10 Headingley, Leeds
Fourth Test Jul 19-23 Old Trafford, Manchester
Fifth Test Jul 27-31 The Oval, London

The Ashes series began thanks to a satirical obituary published in English newspaper, the Sporting Times. The article focused on England’s failure in losing to Australia on English soil for the first time in its short history, claiming that English cricket had died – with the ashes taken to Australia – leading to the establishment of cricket’s most illustrious Test series.

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Australia currently holds a slender 34-32 lead in all-time Ashes series played.

2021-22 series

Australia once again dominated England on home soil, retaining the Ashes with three wins in the first three Tests of the series and going on for a 4-0 win.

The Aussies were a solitary wicket in the Fourth Test in Sydney away from a third 5-0 whitewash in three years, with Travis Head adjudged player of the series after scoring 357 runs and hitting two centuries, despite missing the Fourth Test with COVID.

Also impressing was Scott Boland, who made his debut in the Fourth Test and promptly took 6-7 in the second innings; and Usman Khawaja, who came into the team for Head in Sydney and promptly hit two centuries for the Test.

The series was also notable for having Perth removed as a venue from the series due to its harsh closed border policy, with the Test given to Hobart for its first Ashes match; as well as Rory Burns being bowled by Australian quick Mitchell Starc with the first ball of the series at the Gabba.

Relive the 2021-22 Ashes
First Test: Gabba, Brisbane (Dec 8-12, 2021). View the full scoreboard.
Second Test: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (Dec 16-20, 2021). View the full scoreboard.
Third Test: MCG, Melbourne (Dec 26-30, 2021). View the full scoreboard.
Fourth Test: SCG, Sydney (Jan 5-9, 2022). View the full scoreboard.
Fifth Test: Bellerive Oval, Hobart (Jan 14-18, 2018). View the full scoreboard.

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2019 series

Australia travelled to England, hoping to win the series on foreign soil for the first time since 2001.

In the end, the series was drawn 2-2. But, having won the previous series, Australia did retain the urn on foreign soil for the first time in 18 years.

Relive the 2019 Ashes
First Test: Edgbaston, Birmingham (August 1-5, 2019). View the full scoreboard.
Second Test: Lord’s, London (August 14-18, 2019). View the full scoreboard.
Third Test: Headingley, Leeds (August 22-26, 2019). View the full scoreboard.
Fourth Test: Old Trafford, Manchester (September 4-8, 2019). View the full scoreboard.
Fifth Test: The Oval, London (September 12-16, 2019). View the full scoreboard.

2017-18 series

Australia regained the urn after winning the first three Tests of the series. They won the first Test in Brisbane by ten wickets, following that up with a win by 120 runs in the second Test in Adelaide.

In Perth, it was a dominant win by an innings and 41 runs which saw Australia clinch the urn.

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The final two dead rubber Tests saw a draw on a lifeless pitch in Melbourne, before Australia picked up a win by an innings in Sydney.

Relive the 2017-18 Ashes
First Test: Gabba, Brisbane (Nov 23-27, 2017). View the full scoreboard.
Second Test: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (Dec 2-6, 2017). View the full scoreboard.
Third Test: WACA, Perth (Dec 14-18, 2017). View the full scoreboard.
Fourth Test: MCG, Melbourne (December 26-30, 2017). View the full scoreboard.
Fifth Test: SCG, Sydney (Jan 4-8, 2018). View the full scoreboard.

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