When is the Ashes 2021/22? Australia vs England Test dates, venues, squads, schedule in full

ngland begin their quest to win a first Ashes series on Australian soil in more than a decade in just a few hours’ time.

Joe Root’s team are looking to emulate the heroes of 2010/11, but face a mammoth task in a country where they have lost nine of their last ten Tests, including in a 4-0 series drubbing four years ago.

The build-up to the series has been uniquely challenging, with both sides dogged by scandal at home and the pandemic continuing to complicate things, while unseasonable rain in Australia has wiped out the majority of planned warm-up action.

Still, that does little to dull the excitement and, with the start of play so close, it’ll be fascinating to see how perhaps the most unique series in history plays out.

First Test: 8-12 December, play each day starts at 12am GMT

Second Test: 16-20 December, play starts at 4am GMT

Third Test: 26-30 December, play starts at 11.30pm GMT on December 25

Fourth Test: 5-9 January, play starts at 11.30pm GMT on January 4

Fifth Test: 14-18 January, play starts at 2.30am GMT (TBC)

First Test: The Gabba, Brisbane

Second Test: The Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Third Test: MCG, Melbourne

Fourth Test: SCG, Sydney

Fifth Test: TBC (original host Optus Stadium, Perth forced out of contention by state quarantine requirements)

England: Joe Root (c), Jos Buttler (vc, wk), Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mithcell Swepson, David Warner

TV channel: BT Sport 1 will broadcast the entire series.

Live stream: BT Sport subscribers will be able to watch the series either on the website or through the BT Sport App.

Coverage: Standard Sport’s Will Macpherson is in Australia and will be reporting from every Test.