The Ashes: Stuart Broad, Jonny Bairstow’s conundrum and Mark Wood’s pace light up the 2023 England vs Australia Test series | cricket news

If the 2025 Ashes is anything like the 2023 edition, we will be in for an absolute treat.

Two years ago the contest in England started with four points and ended in a 2-2 draw. In between, controversial declarations, controversial bowling, blistering pace bowling, pouring rain and Stuart Broad’s box office success.

Ahead of Australia’s fight this winter, let’s take a long look at the Ashes in 2023…

First Test, Edgbaston – Australia won by 2 wickets

crack That was the sound when Zak Crawley slammed Pat Cummins’ first ball through covers to start a series that had everything but a winner.

Ben Stokes looked completely bewildered after a Crawley boundary. It was the same look some people may have had on their faces when Stokes decided to declare late on day one with the hosts at 393-8, largely thanks to Joe Root’s fourth Ashes century (which, as the Australian media was always quick to point out, all came home).

Stokes’ aggressive call was criticized by some, including Kevin Pietersen, but it was significant as Australia’s openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja were exposed in a tricky short period before stumps. When the tourists got through safely and ultimately won the game, the declaration was an easy stick to beat England.

In reality, England lost mainly due to mistakes on the field. A broad bowling was the decisive moment before Khawaja was bowled out for 141 off a no-ball, Stokes unable to catch Nathan Lyon acrobatically for two and Cummins kept his composure to guide Australia over the line, adding an unbroken 55 runs with Lyon at 227-8.

Second Test, Lord’s – Australia win by 43 runs

Lord’s, where you can hear the quiet buzz, the sound of bacon and egg blazers, the popping of champagne corks and the clinking of glasses. But the lofty ‘home of cricket’ resembled a bear field on the fifth and final day of this Test, with MCC members getting into an ugly altercation with the Australian players during lunch.

The hostilities in the long room, which saw three members suspended and one suspended for life, stemmed from Alex Carey getting Jonny Bairstow into trouble after the England batsman was out of the crease.

Most pundits believed Bairstow was simply punished for drowsiness, but England were furious, questioning whether the spirit of cricket, such an ambiguous term, had been breached.

This was the sin of the home side’s relentless attack on short balls, in addition to further fielding errors early in the game, which saw them slumped to 188-1 and giving Australia a 91-run first-innings lead.

What was particularly distressing for the home fans was that this chin music from the Australian attack was a last resort. Off-spin maestro Lyon tore his calf on the field and the tourists were short of ideas on how to create a breakthrough.

After Lyon bravely limped off to bat in Australia’s second dig on day four, the final act of the series, Stokes revived the memories of winning the Ashton at Leeds four years ago by keeping England alive with a spirited century on day five.

But Stokes eventually fell to 155 and was caught by the pantomime villain Carey at the metronome Josh Hazlewood and England lost. Before we all had a nice long chat about the conundrum of Bairstow.

Even Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have had their say on the incident, which an outraged Australian strongman Broad said was all Carey would remember. Spoiler alert – these two will meet again later in the series…

Third Test, Headingley – England won by 3 wickets

2 wins, 1 loss, 3 losses – that means England brought out the cavalry, with speed demon Mark Wood and ‘The Wizard’ Chris Woakes drafted in for their first appearances of the series. What kind of movement was it as a result?

Wood bowling rockets north of 95mph helped England by scoring five and hitting 24 off just eight balls. Stokes scored 80 points and finished with 237 points in an 87-5 loss that resulted in a deficit of just 26 points. In Australia’s second innings, Wood got two more scalps, Woakes got six and England’s asking was 251.

At 131-3, the home team looked like they had no chance of winning. But after reaching 171-6, Australia won 3-0. But Harry Brook’s 75 came off target and when he was left with 21 needed, Woakes (32no) and Wood (16no) guided the hosts home. Woakes smacked Mitchell Starc to point to keep the Ashes alive.

Fourth Test, Emirates Old Trafford – Match Draw

The default image of the game was a depressed Stokes sitting on the England balcony as Manchester rain washed away his team’s hopes of setting up the Oval decider. Even the most biased Australian supporter will accept that the visitors have dodged a bullet.

No competition was possible on the final day. Australia started the match at 214-5 in the second innings and were completely outclassed by that point, trailing England by 61 runs. Marnus Labuschagne’s 111 runs in his second innings was a rare bright spot. Without it, the Baggy Greens probably would have lost on day four due to rain.

England’s lead in the early stages of the game was easy to forget as Australia celebrated their retention of the Ashes and talk turned to whether the Test should have a reserve date and whether it could be played until 10pm for the over. But I shouldn’t have done that.

Man-of-the-Series Chris Woakes (not bad for a player who has played just three games) again bowled like a god, taking five in an innings, and Wood’s dizzying pace proved too much for Khawaja, Steve Smith and Travis Head in the second innings.

Between the bowling cuts of Woakes and Wood, Zak Crawley smashed 189 off 182 balls to show why England keep faith in him against regular low scores. Meanwhile, Bairstow (perhaps still embarrassed by Lord’s stumbling and clearly exasperated by criticism of his wicket-keeping) smoked 99 off 81 balls as Stokes’ men plundered 592 inside 108 overs.

At that point it was rain that prevented England from winning 2–2.

Fifth Test, Kia Oval – England win by 49 runs (series ends 2-2)

England’s victory at The Oval, with the series ending 2-2, belonged to one man: Broad.

Brook’s 91-ball 85 in the first innings and Root’s 106-ball 91 in the second innings were reduced to mere footnotes as Broad bowed out of Test cricket in style with a match-winning salvo on the final day.

Broad, who had announced his imminent retirement after day three, was first greeted by Australia’s guard of honor on the morning of day four, and produced one final flourish with the bat, smashing what would be the last ball he faced in cricket through deep square leg for a six.

With Australia set for 384 to claim their first series win in England in 22 years, the hosts needed inspiration as a Smith half-century (dropped by Stokes on 39) had the visitors well placed at 264-3 on the final afternoon.

Woakes and Moeen Ali first turned the tide when they combined to take four wickets in as many overs, including the former claiming the key scalp of Smith (54), before Broad appropriately took center stage to wrap things up.

Broad, ever the master of the dark arts, readjusted Labuschagne’s bail just before he was dismissed by Wood in the first innings and then repeated the trick before dismissing Todd Murphy for the first of two wickets on the final day.

Carey took Broad’s 604th in Test cricket (153rd in the Ashes), trailing only Shane Warne (195) and Glenn McGrath (157). England cruised to a memorable 49-run win, with Broad leading the team in emotional scenes in south London.

Ashes series 2025/26 in Australia

Always UK and Ireland

• First test: Friday, November 21st ~ Tuesday, November 25th (2:30 AM) – Optus Stadium, Perth
• Second test (day/night): Thursday, December 4 – Monday, December 8 (4:30 am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
• Third test: Wednesday, December 17th ~ Sunday, December 21st (12am) – Adelaide Oval
• Fourth test: Thursday, December 25 – Monday, December 29 (11:30 PM) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
• Fifth test: Sunday, January 4 – Thursday, January 8 (11:30 PM) – Sydney Cricket Ground