England travels to Australia with more confidence than any previous visit. Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s new Test identity, the long-awaited return of Jofra Archer, and a fully fit Mark Wood have breathed new life into a group that has not won a Test in Australia since 2011. Meanwhile, Australia will be missing Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood for the series.
Australia has not lost an Ashes series at home in almost a decade, and they have only lost one of their last 15 home Ashes Tests.
The veteran cricketers anticipated the series scores as the Ashes return to Australia in the summer of 2025-26.
The prediction pool, which included 14 former cricketers, concluded with seven players supporting England, six backing Australia, and one wishing for a tie.
Glenn McGrath predicted Australia would win the series 5-0. Furthermore, David Warner backed Australia 4-0, but Steve O’Keefe, Dinesh Karthik, and Brett Lee also predicted tight Australian victories.
On the English front, Graeme Swann, Phil Tufnell, Chris Woakes, and Steven Finn all tipped England to edge the series 3-2 or 3-2 in reverse. Michael Vaughan was the only one of the lot, predicting 2-2, expecting at least one draw to guide the outcome.
Alastair Cook and Michael Clarke predicted 3-1, though their loyalties lay with their countries. Notably, David Lloyd made a bold prediction of a 5-0 sweep for England, which would be the first time in history if it comes true.
Below is the table of the predicted scorelines made by the former cricketers:
| Former Cricketers | Australia | England |
| David Warner | 4 | 0 |
| Alastair Cook | 1 | 3 |
| Glenn McGrath | 5 | 0 |
| Graeme Swann | 2 | 3 |
| Michael Clarke | 3 | 1 |
| David Lloyd | 0 | 5 |
| Michael Vaughan | 2 | 2 |
| Steve O’Keefe | 2 | 3 |
| Dinesh Karthik | 3 | 2 |
| Phil Tufnell | 2 | 3 |
| Chris Woakes | 2 | 3 |
| Ian Healy | 3 | 1 |
| Brett Lee | 3 | 2 |
| Steven Finn | 2 | 3 |
India
