The Ashes

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The Australian media trying to provoke England captain Ben Stokes could backfire on the home side in the Ashes, says former fast bowler Steven Finn.

The West Australian Newspaper called Stokes "Cocky Captain Complainer" after the all-rounder arrived in Perth this week before the series starts on 21 November.

Finn, who was part of the last England side to win an Ashes series down under in 2010-11, told the PA news agency: "Ben Stokes thrives when he has a point to prove.

"There are players you really don't want to provoke because it makes them even better and even more determined. He falls into that category."

England have not won a Test in Australia since that 3-1 victory in 2010-11, with scores of 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 in the three tours since.

However, Finn says the leadership of Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum will not be "timid or meek" as England seek to regain the urn for the first time since 2015.

He added: "You have be wary because the Australian press want to trip you up and find chinks in your armour, but if you're sensible and respectful I don't see any reason you can't embrace the challenge of playing cricket out there.

"Australians respect people who win. If you puff your chest out like we did in 2010-11 and push back, it can turn the other way.

"By the time we'd bowled them out for 98 on Boxing Day, they really turned on Australia and it almost felt like they were supporting us.

"That's the challenge and it feels like something Stokes and McCullum could do."

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Out-of-favour England bowler Ollie Robinson bowled at Australia batter Steve Smith in the nets in Sydney on Thursday, having traveled to Australia to play club cricket.

Robinson, 31, who played the most recent of his 20 Tests in February 2024, was left out of England's Ashes squad but is in Australia for a stint with Sydney University Cricket Club in the Sydney grade cricket competition.

He bowled at Smith and Sam Konstas - the 20-year-old Australia opener overlooked for the first Test - at New South Wales training.

Smith is preparing for the Ashes by playing for New South Wales and scored a century last week on his return to the Sheffield Shield.

While being in Australia would be of some benefit for Robinson were injury to hit England's pace bowling stocks, an England recall appears unlikely.

Robinson, who played in the 2023 Ashes and the 2021-22 tour down under, has lost his central contract and appears to have been discarded by the current management.

A call-up from England's Lions squads, which includes a host of younger pace bowlers, would be more likely if required.

Matthew Henry
BBC Sport Journalist

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Former Australia opener Chris Rogers has backed Jake Weatherald to make his debut in the first Ashes Test but admits the uncertainty around the hosts' top order is a "concern".

Australia named their 15-man squad for the first Test against England on Wednesday with Tasmania opener Weatherald, 31, given a first call-up.

He and Usman Khawaja are the only regular openers picked but Australia may yet promote Marnus Labuschagne from his preferred position of number three to partner 38-year-old Khawaja.

Rogers, who played 25 Tests, featured in three Ashes series and is currently coach of the Victoria state side, told BBC Sport: "I am protective of the opening position as an opener.

"I always like to think it is the hardest role of cricket. I wouldn't mind seeing them go with the proven opener as such."

Much of the uncertainty appears to come from the fitness of all-rounder Cameron Green.

Green has made a tentative return to bowling after back surgery in October 2024 and if he is not fit enough to play a full part then may feature as a specialist batter.

That would likely mean all-rounder Beau Webster bats a six and covers Green's bowling with Green slotting in at number three and Labuschagne pushed up to open.

"I would like to see Jake Weatherald get a chance to see what he is made of," Rogers said.

"I understand they highly value the other players they have got and whether they can fit those players in and move the chess pieces around.

"It is a concern. They would prefer it to be a little bit cleaner.

"No-one has a crystal ball with these things.

"They will be making some very educated guesses. Either way they will be leaving out a good player and that is the luxury they have."

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England captain Ben Stokes was given a typical welcome by the Australian media on his arrival in Perth.

A picture of Stokes in arrivals at the airport was on the front page of the West Australian newspaper, which carried the headline 'Baz Bawl'.

"England's Cocky Captain Complainer, still smarting from crease-gate, lands in Perth early thinking dopey Bazball can take the Ashes," read the caption, referring to the controversial stumping of England's Jonny Bairstow by Australia's Alex Carey during the last Ashes in 2023.

All-rounder Stokes is the latest in a string of arrivals as England gather in Perth to prepare for the first Test on 21 November. England play their sole Ashes warm-up against England Lions at Lilac Hill next week.

Rough treatment towards England teams is nothing new, particularly at the beginning of Ashes tours.

In 2013, the Brisbane Courier Mail famously refused to print the name of England's Stuart Broad after he did not walk for an edge during an Ashes series earlier the same year.

The newspaper called him a "Smug Pommie Cheat".

In the From the Ashes series on BBC Sounds, former England captain Michael Vaughan described how the local media covered a training session in Perth at the beginning of the 2002-03 tour of Australia.

"We arrived in Perth and did a gentle fielding session at the Waca, and it went great," said Vaughan.

"The local newspaper positioned a camera. When you field for an hour and a half, and there's 16 or 17 in the squad, there's bound to be one or two go down.

"Next day on the front of the paper was 'England drop in to town' and pictures of us all dropping a ball."

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Australia have released batter Travis Head from their T20 squad for the final two matches against India so he can play in the final round of the Sheffield Shield before the Ashes.

Left-hander Head, 31, has struggled for form, with a top-score of 31 in eight white-ball innings for Australia since 1 October.

He will instead play for South Australia against Tasmania in Hobart from 10 November.

It means most, if not all, of Australia's likely Test squad will feature in that round of fixtures, although their squad is set to be announced before.

Elsewhere, Marnus Labuschagne continued his fine form as he made his fifth century on the Australian summer in the One-Day Cup.

The right-hander made 101 off 111 balls as Queensland Bulls posted 287-9 against New South Wales.

Matt Renshaw, another possible inclusion in the Ashes squad, made three, while Sam Konstas hit 47 off 74 balls at the top of order in NSW's reply.

Labuschagne also took 2-26 as the Bulls won by 96 runs.

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Head coach Brendon McCullum says England's ODI series defeat by New Zealand will not have any bearing on the Ashes.

England lost 3-0 to the Black Caps, with their batting coming under scrutiny. White-ball captain Harry Brook scored England's only century and led the way with 175 runs but Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith only scored a combined 58 runs, with a high score of 25.

McCullum, however, doesn't believe there will be any hangover heading into the first Test on 21 November and says his side have a "level of confidence" in their batting in Australian conditions.

"It's a different form of the game, and it's a completely different kind of challenge which we'll be confronted with as well," McCullum said.

"In T20 cricket, we're going really well. I think in Test cricket, we've got a pretty good template of where we're at and I think we've performed reasonably well, albeit we've got a huge challenge in front of us. One-day cricket is clearly an area where we need to improve.

"I think when we do come across the trickier conditions in Australia and Test cricket, I feel like we've got a pretty good understanding of how we'll go about it. It doesn't guarantee us anything, but it gives us a level of confidence going into that series."

McCullum also addressed the form and fitness of Jofra Archer, who bowled 20 overs across the final two ODIs, taking three wickets.

"He'd done a lot of skill work as well as fitness work, and for him to get through two matches with his full quota of overs and build towards what's coming in the next couple of weeks is a big bonus," he added.

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Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood believes his Ashes preparations are "going swimmingly" after a series of standout performances in white-ball cricket.

The 34-year-old, who has taken more Test wickets against England (76) than he has any other country, was named man of the match after returning an eye-catching 3-13 in Australia's four-wicket T20 win over India on Friday.

He also impressed during the preceding one-day series, including taking 2-20 in the hosts' seven-wicket victory in Perth, the venue for the first Ashes Test on 21 November.

He will now switch to red-ball cricket, lining up for New South Wales against Victoria at the SCG in a match which begins on 10 November.

"Now it's probably just getting a bit of volume in the legs with the Shield game next week," Hazlewood told the official Cricket Australia website.

"Everything feels in a good place. Doing a lot of things off the field well, doing things on the field well, so I couldn't be happier with how it's going.

"Everything's going swimmingly. I can't really say if it's worked perfectly until probably after the summer.

"If I get through everything, it's probably the template moving forward to put myself in the best position to play as many games as possible."

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Australia opener Sam Konstas made 40 as New South Wales drew with Queensland in the Sheffield Shield.

The 20-year-old was the only NSW wicket to fall, caught by Hayden Kerr to become debutant Samuel Skelly's first professional scalp, as his side closed the rain-affected match on 79-1 in their second innings.

Konstas, who was bowled for 10 on his first trip to the crease, made scores of 53, zero, 14 and four in his previous Shield matches this season.

Steven Smith, who scored 118 in New South Wales' first outing, was not afforded another opportunity to bat after Queensland declared their first innings on 347-8 on day four at The Gabba.

In Melbourne, Test prospect Fergus O'Neill took 4-54 as Victoria bowled Tasmania out for 210 to win by 144 runs.

O'Neill, who had a spell with Nottinghamshire this summer and was second on last season's Shield wicket-taking charts, has been touted as next in line should another Australia seamer fall to injury.

The 24-year-old had already dismissed Jake Weatherald, last season's top run-scorer and one of numerous domestic players fighting for a spot at the top of the Australia order, for 12 late on day three.

O'Neill returned on the final day to dispatch Weatherald's fellow opener Caleb Jewell, before going on to remove Nikhil Chaudhary and Jake Doran as Tasmania were unable to chase 355.

Meanwhile opener Cameron Bancroft followed his century in the first innings with 58 in the second as Western Australia drew with South Australia in Perth.

Chasing an unlikely 303 after their opponents declared on 394-8, Bancroft's side were 195-6 when the players shook hands.

There is one more round of Sheffield Shield matches prior to the first Ashes Test in Perth on Friday, 21 November.

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Nathan McSweeney boosted his hopes of a recall to the Australia team for the Ashes with a patient century for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield.

He made 103 off 168 balls on day three of their match against Western Australia at the Waca in Perth.

The 26-year-old hit 11 fours and one six before he was dismissed by Aaron Hardie.

McSweeney made the hundred batting at number three, which has become a troublesome spot for Australia.

All-rounder Cameron Green is the most recent incumbent of the position but his returns in Test cricket since being promoted up the order are modest.

McSweeney played three Tests for Australia against India a year ago but managed just 72 runs in six innings at an average of 14.40 having opened with Usman Khawaja.

Elsewhere in the Sheffield Shield, Queensland skipper Marnus Labuschagne was dismissed for just four against New South Wales.

Labuschagne has made a prolific start to this year's competition with two centuries in the first-class competition and is widely expected to play in the Ashes.

However, he was removed by seamer Liam Hatcher at the Gabba, caught by Kurtis Patterson at deep leg gully.

Labuschagne's team-mate Khawaja found some form with the bat for Queensland, though.

Experienced opener Khawaja made a typically gritty 87 off 127 balls in Brisbane - his top score in the competition this season.

Fellow opener Matthew Renshaw - another contender for Australia's squad for the opening match against England at Perth on November 21 - was out for 29.