3 reasons why England are the favorites to win Ashes 2025-26 series

The eagerly anticipated 2025-26 Ashes is less than 24 hours away from its grand opening at Perth, starting on November 21. England has historically struggled in the Ashes series down under, and the results have been particularly worrisome for them over the past decade.

After their incredible 3-1 triumph in the 2010/11 Ashes in Australia, the English have barely come close to winning a Test match down under. They have lost 13 out of the 15 Ashes Tests in Australia, with the other two ending in draws.

With the Aussies often playing England at least to level terms in their away Ashes series, the urn has belonged to them since the 2017/18 series. Yet, even with England's forgettable past decade in the Ashes series down under, several pundits and fans believe the upcoming affair could be the most closely-fought on Australian soil since the famous 1986/87 series.

Some have even gone to the extent of claiming Ben Stokes' men to be the favorites to win back the Ashes urn.

While the next month and a half of exhilarating cricket will answer those, here are three reasons why England are slight favorites to win the 2025-26 Ashes.

#1 England finally boast an attack more suited to Australian conditions than home

While picking a bowling attack on calibre rather than for conditions is all but fair, England may have done it to a fault in their most recent visits to Australia. Far too often, the visitors boasted fast-bowling attacks high on swinging and seaming ability but low on pace.

As undroppable as James Anderson and Stuart Broad made themselves, thanks to their incredible records, the duo's exit has ironically helped England stack their attack with pacers that consistently clock speeds of 145-150 kph. In Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, and Josh Tongue, the visitors boast a fiery threesome that can hover in that range, with Matthew Potts and Gus Atkinson not far behind.

While seam movement has become a sight again in Tests down under recently, the pitches invariably favor those with express speeds and the ability to unleash fast bouncers and fuller deliveries at will, over military-medium swing and seam bowlers.

Thus, with the selection of their fast-bowling attack, England have already taken a massive step in the right direction towards pulling off a historic series win.

#2 Australia's batting is ripe for the taking even on home soil

For the first time in the century, England are entering the Australian shores with potentially more pedigree and form in the batting department than their Ashes counterparts. Australia's batting lineup, barring one or two positions, has question marks written all over it from top to bottom.

The debacle starts from the top, with the aging Usman Khawaja's recent Test form and debutant Jake Weatherland's inexperience. The former is averaging only a tick over 30 in 16 Tests since the beginning of last year, while the latter has never played for Australia in any of the three formats.

At No.3 comes an in-form yet recently dropped Marnus Labuschagne, whose Test form this year has been abysmal. After averaging only 16.16 in four Tests this year, the veteran was dropped for the West Indian tour before his recent domestic form helped him earn a recall to the national side.

The ever-aggressive Travis Head has shockingly gone off the boil this year, averaging under 32 in Tests. He has endured an unfathomable struggle even in the other formats, as recently as the Indian white-ball home series. While Cameron Green seemingly found form in the recent West Indian Tests, he is still working his way from injury and will be playing his first home Test since January last year.

Further worrying is the fact that the tall all-rounder averages an underwhelming 30.55 in 15 home Tests.

Such a shaky Aussie top seven leaves the door wide open for an attacking England unit to run through them on several occasions during the five-Test series.

#3 The hosts' injury concerns offer England a golden opportunity for an early knockout punch

The Australian cricket team is renowned for their ability to make an opening statement at the start of the series, especially at home. No team has received the brunt of that force more than England in an away Ashes series, resulting in their blowout series losses in all but one of their Ashes tours of Australia.

Yet, for once, Australia might be on the back foot from the get-go, with half their awesome foursome in the bowling department out of the series opener due to injury. In Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, Australia will not only be without a combined 604 Test wickets but also the two who offer them the most control against an England batting known to attack from ball one.

The former's absence is a bigger gift for the visitors, considering his incredible record as captain. While Scott Boland is as effective a replacement option as one can get, England enjoyed much success against him in the home Ashes in 2023.

The third pacer for the series opener, Brendan Doggett, will be wearing the Australian baggy green for the first time in his career.

The timing is ideal for England to perform a role reversal from the usual down under and win the first half of the battle as the Aussies fight through these injuries. By achieving that, Ben Stokes' men could also utilize their attacking front-running brand of cricket to their advantage and push the hosts to submission.