Brisbane: England will hope to defend the Ashes urn when the much-awaited series against Australia Down Under kicks off with the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday.
The last time when the two heavyweights met to battle out for the urn was in 2015 in England, when the then captain Alastair Cook led the hosts to victory, sealing the series 3-2.
While England will miss the services of Ben Stokes, Australia will hope pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood to come good against the defending champions at home.
Another boost for the Steve Smith-led side will be the return of Tim Paine, who makes it to the Test squad after seven years. The 32-year-old Paine last played a Test against India back in 2010 at the M Chinaswamy stadium, which the hosts won by seven wickets.
With cricket’s oldest rivalry kicking off in less than two days, here’s the schedule:
Schedule of the first three Ashes Test matches. (Photo: Screengrab / cricket.com.au)
The schedule for the last two Test matches. (Photo: Screengrab / cricket.com.au)
IST Tmings: The first Test starts at 5.30 am IST, while the second and third matches will start at 9 am and 8 am respectively. The final two Tests will commence at 5 am.
Watch the trailer of the Ashes here:
Squads:
Australia: Steven Smith(captain), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Chadd Sayers.
England: Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, Joe Root(c), Dawid Malan, Gary Ballance, James Vince, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Mason Crane, Ben Foakes, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Jake Ball, Craig Overton, Tom Curran.
Live telecast and streaming:
All the Test matches will be telecast on Sony Six and Sony Six HD, while the match can be streamed online on Sony Liv.
