The 2025 – 2026 Ashes will be fought out over five Tests between Australia and England in the UK. The Aussies hold the urn following a draw 2-2 in England for the 2024 European summer, but how will they back on home soil?
BettingSite.com.au will be covering the Ashes extensively from a gambling perspective. You can navigate around this page with the following tabs:
Series result: This bet type is the most simple. You have three options, Australia, England or draw, and you just have to back the result you think will occur.
Draw no bet: This shortens the odds on the Aussies and Poms, but also removes the draw risk from the equation. If the match is drawn, you get your money back.
Correct series score: It gets harder here. Not only do you have to pick the winner of the series, but you also have to correctly predict exactly how many Tests each team will win.
Double chance: This one gives you two bites of the cherry. You can bet England or Australia and if either of them wins, you get paid. But, if it’s a draw. You’re cooked. Similarly, you can back England or draw, or Australia or draw.
Player props: Here’s where it gets really tough, but also really enjoyable. Pick your favourite players and follow their success. Back your player to score the most runs or take the most wickets – across the entire series – and you’ll be rolling in it if they have massive performances.
To regain/retain The Ashes: Simply, back the team you think will be holding the Ashes at the end of the series. If the Ashes holder either wins or draws the series, then you win if you back them, but the team that is chasing the Ashes must win the series to reclaim it.
Online bookmakers run literally hundreds of betting markets for each match of the Ashes series. Popular options include:
Win draw win: Similar to the series result, except this applies to each match. You have to find the result of the Test, whether it is Australia, England or draw.
Highest opening partnership: Which side has the best openers? Back them in to outscore their opponent’s opening pair in each innings. All they have to do is have more runs on the board than their opponent when the first wicket falls in each innings.
Draw no bet: Again, this one is similar to the series one, except it removes the draw from the equation from the game. It can be especially helpful when rain is forecast, because you will get your money back if there happens to be a ton of play lost due to the bad weather.
Player props: Last one that’s similar to the series player props. Except it applies to each innings of each individual Test match. So back the guy you think will take the most wickets or make the most runs in each innings of the match.
There was a time there for a while when you could just load up on Australia at short odds and know that they would get the job done. But the days of Warne, Waugh, Ponting and company are long gone. Both teams are almost on a level playing field, so you can never be complacent. You see, that’s the thing with Ashes cricket. Even when you think you know, you don’t know. Bet accordingly.
Back the home side: These days, it genuinely feels like a 50-50 every time an Ashes series rolls around. And that means both sides have strong claims. Often though, the home team knows its home conditions and that should hold them in good stead. The Aussies, with their fast, bouncy wickets love the rock coming onto them, while the Poms are the kings of swing and play it just as well as they bowl it on their slow, low, seaming decks.
Form goes out the door: Usually we would say “make sure you look at the form” before you bet on an event, but we only pay passing interest to this when it comes to the Ashes. These two teams are capable of producing s
tunning results, even when nothing is going their way. They both lift for each other, which produces high quality, often thrilling cricket.
Back the best: The blokes with bat and ball who spearhead their attacks are usually the men who stand up in the face of Ashes pressure. Steve Smith and David Warner for the Aussies always tend to produce, while Joe Root is a monster for the Englishmen. Follow the champions with player betting. That’s where the cash is.
Online bookmakers pull out all the stops whenever the Ashes tour rolls around. Punters can indulge in dozens of bonus offers, betting specials and daily promotions throughout the series, including a range of exclusive, one-off deals you will not find anywhere else. See our Ashes promo page to learn more about the latest bookie offers.
You’ve made the day-long flight from the UK, you’re sitting in the bar with a beer in hand, and you want to put a few bets on the Ashes. Unfortunately, recent changes to local gambling laws mean you won’t be able to use your UK betting apps in Australia. There are a few workarounds, however, which are detailed here.
Ashes history: 1882-2024
Cricket’s greatest rivalry. Australia, England, battling it out for that little urn. The Ashes is the cricket series to end all series, pitting the traditional rivals against each other in a test of will and skill.
First played in 1882, the term The Ashes, is derived from the famous obituary, published in British newspaper The Sporting Times, in 1882, which stated English cricket had died and “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”. It was the first time Australia had beaten the Poms on their home soil and sent the nation into mourning.
It finally showed that Australia was a viable opponent and led to the rivalry as we know it today.
The Ashes urn, which remains at the MCC Museum, at the storied Lords in England, is believed to contain the ashes of a cricket bail, although historians are only 95 per cent sure that is fact.
Played over five Tests since 1998, Australia dominated for many years, winning eight in a row between 1989 and 2003 before England claimed a 2-1 victory, that was followed by a 5-0 whitewash by the Aussies in 2007 – the first time that had occurred.
The Poms won three straight after that, with Australia briefly grabbing them back in 2014 before surrendering them the next year. That trend has flipped, however, with the Aussies asserting their dominance at home while drawing the 2019 series away to retain the Ashes for the first time since 2002-03.
If there is one thing cricket fans love doing it is comparing players from different eras: “Ricky Ponting doesn’t hold a candle to the great batsman of the 50s” echoed around households as the young Tasmanian put the Poms to sword again… well for most of the 90s and 00s. But then there is alway someone who wheels out the statistics books. If you want some fun Ashes statistical facts, check out our Ashes Stats page.
The most storied statistically current Australian or English player is ex-England captain Alastair Cook, who needs just 400 runs to, to move into the top 10 scorers in Ashes history. A top 10 which includes Ponting, Allan Border, Don Bradman and the great English batsmen like Jack Hobbs.
The great Australian sides featuring Sir Donald Bradman are hard to top for their feats in the 1930s and 40s, but the Australian team which decimated the old enemy between 1989-2003 is also in the conversation. While these two teams are Australia’s best, England has also had periods of dominance, including winning the first eight Ashes series. They have also had the best of the recent years, having won three successive times, before briefly giving it away in 2014.
Past Ashes results
While only one series splits Australia (33 wins) and England (32 wins) in the overall tally, the Brits have had the wood over their old enemy in recent years. England has won five of the last eight series and was the last team to win it away from home, although that record is somewhat tarnished by Australia’s big wins in 2014-15 (5-0) and 2017-18 (4-0). View all results.
Ashes Series Drawn 2-2: The 2023 Ashes series, marked by intense competition and dramatic moments, ended in a 2-2 draw, with Australia retaining the Ashes. Key performances included Usman Khawaja’s 496 runs, Zak Crawley’s 480 runs, Mitchell Starc’s 23 wickets, and Stuart Broad’s 22 wickets. The series featured Stuart Broad’s memorable farewell, Zak Crawley’s assertive start, Australia’s record chase at Edgbaston, controversy at Lord’s, and Mark Wood’s speedy bowling at Headingley. Rain played a role in the fourth test, influencing the series outcome.
2023 Ashes squads
Australia:
Pat Cummins (c)
Steve Smith (vc)
Scott Boland
Alex Carey (wk)
Cameron Green
Marcus Harris
Josh Hazlewood
Travis Head
Josh Inglis (wk)
Usman Khawaja
Marnus Labuschagne
Nathan Lyon
Mitchell Marsh
Todd Murphy
Michael Neser
Jimmy Peirson (wk)
Mitchell Starc
David Warner
England:
Ben Stokes (c)
Ollie Pope (vc, wk)
Rehan Ahmed
Moeen Ali
James Anderson
Jonny Bairstow (wk)
Stuart Broad
Harry Brook
Zak Crawley
Ben Duckett
Dan Lawrence
Jack Leach
Matthew Potts
Ollie Robinson
Joe Root
Josh Tongue
Chris Woakes
Mark Wood
Australia won 4-0 in Australia: From the moment Mitchell Starc clean-bowled Rory Burn with the first ball of the series, it was always Australia’s series. Only rain delays and a slightly too conservative declaration from Aussie captain Pat Cummins in Sydney prevented the hosts from making it 5-0. There were a number of standout performances along the way, but this will forever be the summer of Scott Boland and his magical 6/7 on debut in the Boxing Day Test.
2021-22 Ashes squads
Australia:
Pat Cummins (c)
Scott Boland
Alex Carey (wk)
Cameron Green
Marcus Harris
Josh Hazlewood
Travis Head
Usman Khawaja
Marnus Labuschagne
Nathan Lyon
Michael Neser
Jhye Richardson
Steve Smith
Mitchell Starc
Mitchell Swepson
David Warner
England:
Joe Root (c)
James Anderson
Jonny Bairstow
Dom Bess
Stuart Broad
Rory Burns
Jos Buttler
Zak Crawley
Haseeb Hameed
Dan Lawrence
Jack Leach
Dawid Malan
Craig Overton
Ollie Pope
Ollie Robinson
Ben Stokes
Chris Woakes
Mark Wood
Series drawn 2-2 in England: With England fresh off a Cricket World Cup and Australia welcoming back a number of star players from suspension, 2019 was destined to be a memorable year for Ashes cricket. The hostile home crowd gave it to Steve Smith from day one, but the Aussie star stood up with some of the finest Test batting ever seen on English soil. Even though a brutal bouncer from Jofra Archer forced him to miss three innings with concussion, Smith accrued some 774 runs at 110.57 as Australia retained the Ashes for the first time since 2005.
Australia won 4-0 in Australia: Eyebrows were raised when England brought out a crop of rookie batsmen for the 2017/18 Ashes series. While both sides had issues with willow in hand, the struggles of Mark Stoneman and James Vince in key top-order roles proved the difference. It didn’t help that Australia’s bowlers were on top of their game, with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc all taking over 20 wickets as the hosts regained the urn with a 4-0 victory.
2017/18 Ashes squads
Australia
David Warner
Cameron Bancroft
Usman Khawaja
Steve Smith (c)
Peter Handscomb
Shaun Marsh
Tim Paine (wk)
Nathan Lyon
Mitchell Starc
Pat Cummins
Josh Hazelwood
Jackson Bird
Chadd Sayers
England
Joe Root (c)
Moeen Ali
James Anderson
Jonny Bairstow (wk)
Jake Ball
Gary Ballance
Stuart Broad
Alastair Cook
Mason Crane
Ben Foakes
Dawid Malan
Craig Overton
Mark Stoneman
James Vince
Chris Woakes
Tom Curran
England won 3-2 in England: England wrapped up the Test series in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, regaining the Ashes urn, despite the best efforts of Steve Smith, who announced himself as a force with 215 in the second Test. But in the end, the Aussies’ batting frailties let them down in England over the course of the five match series, with Smith the only one who truly looked capable. The Aussies saved some face with a fifth Test win, which was set up by a dominant first innings batting performance. Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle helped the Aussies bowl out England, missing James Anderson, twice.
Australia won 5-0 in Australia: It was a dominant performance from Australia, recording only the third Ashes clean sweep in history. Mitchell Johnson was scary in the 14-15 summer with 37 wickets, being named man of the match three times; and ultimately he was crowned player of the series. It had only been three months since England defeated Australia at home, but it was a completely different ball game on the pace friendly decks down under.
England 3-0 in England: Some matches were close but England always held the upper hand in this Test series, winning Trent Bridge, Lords and the Riverside Ground. The matches at Old Trafford and The Oval ended in drawn outcomes. Ian Bell was the star for England, topping the series runs with 562. Shane Watson was Australia’s top scorer in the series and Michael Clarke’s 187 at Old Trafford were highlights. Graeme Swann’s 26 wickets were probably the difference between the two teams. How Australia would have loved SK Warne in this series.
England won 3-1 in Australia: Australia was leading the head to head series wins 31-29 heading into this one and they had not won down under since the 1986-87 summer. But this was all about to change with the home team in the midst of a rebuild, not even the brilliant Michael Hussey (averaged over 60 for the series) was enough to stop England, who were led superbly from a near-record breaking performance from Alastair Cook, who clubbed 766 runs and frustrated the Aussies the entire series. England eventually won the series 3-1, but wrapped it up when they won the Boxing Day Test.
England won 2-1 in England: Amazingly after being whipped by the Aussies in 2006-07 in Australia, England bounced back to win at home, claiming the Ashes 2-1. They survived some anxious moments, especially when they escaped with a draw in the first ever Ashes Test played at Cardiff, in Wales. The great Ricky Ponting surpassed the 11,000 Test runs and became Australia’s greatest ever Test run scorer during the series. Andrew Flintoff was also playing his last Test series for England, his crowning moment coming at Lord’s when his five-for guided England to its first win at the ground in 75 years. It all came down to the fifth Test with the Aussies needing a draw to retain the Ashes. The Aussies found themselves needing 546 with two days to play to win. A rearguard action from Michael Hussey (121) was great, but England ended up victorious.
Best bookmakers for the 2025-26 Ashes series
Every Australian online bookie already has extensive betting markets on the Ashes series, including on the first Test at Brisbane. It will pay to keep an eye on all the cricket betting sites offers and bonuses in the days leading up to the series opener. Sportsbet.com.au is our no.1 bookie for Australian summer of cricket, but the reality is there are plenty of options.
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.