Australia's Ashes preparation hits full steam

In the next five days, Australia's players will enjoy the first huge luxury of hosting a home Ashes series.

Not because of the conditions or the fact record-breaking crowds are expected, but in terms of what the last full week of warm-ups look like.

Every member of Australia's squad, with the exception of Usman Khawaja, will play in Sheffield Shield games at the SCG, WACA and Bellerive Oval this week.

At the same time, England will be playing a three-day intra-squad game at Perth's Lilac Hill, a venue that has never hosted a men's international.

The tourists' preparations were questioned by former England captain Michael Vaughan last week, pointing to the vast difference in conditions to Optus Stadium.

Keen not to light an early fuse, Australia's players have stayed away from questioning England's tactics.

"England can prepare however they want to prepare," Nathan Lyon said this week.

"I am not worried about how they're preparing or anything to do with them until the morning of November 21."

England's preparations are nothing new, with a cluttered calendar making meaningful tour games a thing of the past.

When Australia went to England in 2023, they played no warm-up games before the Test Championship final but won that and their first two Ashes battles with England.

But there are very obvious advantages to having a longer lead-in for Australia's players, given the timing of the series.

England are coming off a white-ball series against New Zealand and their players haven't featured in a red-ball match since early August.

In comparison, Steve Smith has already hit one red-ball century this summer and Marnus Labuschagne two.

Lyon will play his fourth Sheffield Shield game of the season and Scott Boland his third, while Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and back-up quick Sean Abbott join them at the SCG this week when NSW hosts Victoria.

"A lot of the skills are transferable between formats," Abbott said on Sunday. 

"But Josh Hazelwood has mentioned it a few times - your action gets into a little bit of a different position trying to hit yorkers constantly through white-ball cricket.

"Then when you come back to red-ball cricket, you want to be a little bit up-and-over and get the kiss off the wicket and giving the ball every chance to move.

"You can't really match game intensity as much as we try to in the nets. 

"It's just something about being out there in the middle and the thick of the contest. So, pretty lucky - home conditions, home summer."

As for Abbott, he is insistent he will be well prepared if his chance comes for a Test debut this summer.

"I feel like I could get the tap on the shoulder," Abbott said.

"It felt that way potentially in the West Indies a little bit and games before that.

"I've not been getting a heap of game time recently, but being around those sort of guys is invaluable, whether you're playing or not."

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: November 21-25, Perth Stadium, 1.30pm AEDT

Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3.30pm AEDT

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 11am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: (First Test only): Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood