Cricket: England Ashes Squad Packed with Pace

The cricket merry-go-round keeps on turning, and with England’s white-ball matches for the English “summer” complete following their brief sojourn to Ireland, the squad for the Ashes series has now been named. There is very little rest for England players involved in all formats of the game, but tired though they may be, Ben Stokes and his players will already be itching to get to Australia and crack on.

They will have to wait until the 21st of November for the first Test, to be played in Perth. Before that, they will have just one preparation game, also in Perth, against England Lions. Many will feel that this is insufficient match practice following an extended break from cricket and a particularly long time away from the red-ball version of the game. But, in modern parlance, it is what it is.

The schedule of the modern all-format player is so intense, with international cricket, the IPL and other franchises, and The Hundred. Consequently, as important as the Ashes is proclaimed to be, giving England’s players adequate preparatory games has to be balanced with giving them some time away from the game.

One Surprise in Squad But Two Big Decisions

The players will enjoy the rest and rare bit of time sleeping in their own beds, even if they will be very excited about the challenge ahead. Fans, on the other hand, just wish the first Test were tomorrow. There isn’t much in the way of news or filler to keep England supporters interested before the tour starts, and the only big moment came on the 23rd of September with the naming of the squad.

Shoaib Bashir

Coach Brendon McCullum had said that the meeting to discuss selection would be short, and it was felt that only one spot was up for debate. England have been building towards this tour for a long time, ditching James Anderson and Stuart Broad before it was entirely necessary to prepare a pace-bowling battery that could compete Down Under. The other key aspect of the bowling attack was a tall off-spinner, with Shoaib Bashir set to perform that role.

Will Jacks

The unknown, then, was who would be the backup option to Bashir, and it was believed that Rehan Ahmed had done enough to earn a spot on the plane thanks to his brilliant season with the bat and improved leg spin. However, McCullum and co sprung a surprise by instead opting for Surrey’s Will Jacks.

Jacks is an explosive batter and fits the bill in terms of being a tall off-spinner, so in a sense it should not have been a surprise. However, Jacks, who played two Tests back in 2022, has bowled just 74 overs in first-class cricket this year, taking a mere five wickets. It seems England looks set to rely on pace, their 16-man squad fully loaded in that department.

Harry Brook

We will return to the full squad and the fast-bowling options Stokes will have at his disposal. But first, there was another big decision made, albeit one that was less of a surprise. Ollie Pope was relieved of his position as vice-captain, with white-ball skipper Harry Brook promoted to the role.

Jacob Bethell

At least part of the reason for that decision was that it gives England greater freedom to drop Pope and select Jacob Bethell instead. Bethell is a player with an incredible ceiling, who seems to have the tools to become a great of the game. He also provides an additional spin-bowling option, which could be very useful, especially if England entered a Test without a main spinner.

The selectors have had a lot of faith in Pope as a batter and have been patient with him. However, his Test average isn’t good enough at 35.36, and even that is boosted thanks to some very big scores against lesser teams (171 v Zimbabwe and 205 against Ireland, those two innings accounting for over 10% of his career Test runs).

England Squad for Ashes

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 vs 🇦🇺 | England have named their Ashes squad 👇https://t.co/FpTAzedhrU

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) September 23, 2025

The full squad is as follows:

Jamie Smith will of course be behind the stumps, with no specialist back-up, meaning Pope will take up the role if Smith gets injured. The most obvious thing about the squad is the number of quicks included and the pace they can bowl at.

Wood and Archer can get up to the mid-90s (miles per hour), with Carse, Tongue and Atkinson all capable of bowling at 90mph and even Potts not too far behind. That gives England six quicks, plus Ben Stokes and McCullum, and the skipper will hope that means they can fight fire with fire on the fast, bouncy wickets the hosts will prepare.

If England can keep Wood and Archer fit for the whole series, they will hope to pair them together in at least two games. Time will tell whether McCullum’s strategy proves to be the right one, but we can expect plenty of hostile bowling, that’s for sure.