AUS vs ENG 1st Test Ashes Playing 11: Know Who's IN & Who's OUT

The stage is all set for the biggest Test series in the cricketing world. Australia and England are all set to lock horns with each other in the Ashes 2025–26, which will witness five matches across two months down under.

The opening game of Ashes 2025-26 will be played on November 21 at the Perth Stadium. Both teams have been putting in the hard yards ahead of the match and with the two best sides set to face each other, it is expected to be a cracker. Let's have a look at AUS vs ENG 1st Test Ashes Playing 11 for the 2025-26 season.

Australia Playing 11 for 1st Ashes Test Against England

Australia will be under pressure heading into the first match of Ashes 2025-26 as they will be without their key players for the series opener. Regular captain Pat Cummins, pacers Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott have been ruled out with injuries.

Steve Smith will be leading Australia in the 1st AUS vs ENG Test and a lot would be reliant on him. Coming to the Australian XI, Usman Khawaja will be there as an opener no doubt as he has performed reasonably well for his team over the last few years.

But the question remains who will be there along with him at No. 2? Australia have young Jake Weatherald in the squad as well but it is expected that he won’t be added to the XI in the first match itself. They are likely to open with Marnus Labuschagne, who has been in red-hot form, having scored truckloads of runs in the domestic circuit.

Cameron Green, who will be making his comeback after a long injury break, is expected to take the three spot as he has been doing great with the bat at three. Captain Steve Smith along with Travis Head, Beau Webster and Alex Carey will form the middle-order.

In the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Brendan Doggett will handle the fast bowling duties. Nathan Lyon, who is one of the best spinners in the world, is expected to be the spinner.

AUS Playing 11 for 1st Ashes Test

Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith (C), Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Brendan Doggett, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon

England Playing 11 for 1st Ashes Test Against Australia

On the other hand, England will have a full-strength side for the first Test match. There were some concerns over the fitness of Mark Wood but he has recovered and will be fired to bowl on the Perth pitch, which is rated as one of the fastest in the world.

England have a pretty settled top and middle order and it is expected that there won’t be any surprises. Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope will be there in the top order and all will be high on confidence, especially after a good summer back home.

Joe Root and Harry Brook, who are among the best Test batsmen in the world, will be there in the middle order along with captain Ben Stokes and keeper Jamie Smith. England are expected to go all-pace attack as well with the pitch being green. England have already announced their 12-player squad for this 1st Ashes Test.

ENG Playing 11 for 1st Ashes Test

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith (wk), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Brydon Carse