The Ashes 2023: all you need to know including when the test series starts, what it is and how to watch

While the 2023 Ashes are coming home in terms of Australian and English national cricket teams facing off against one another across five venues in the United Kingdom this year, the debate is whether Ben Stokes can lead his team to victory after Australia picked up the urn last year.

The historic test cricket tournament, that traditionally takes place at least once every two years, has been played for over 140 years and this year’s competition will be the 37th to be hosted by England.

As fans prepare themselves to watch the two-month long tournament, PeopleWorld gives you the low down on the 2023 Ashes so you are not ‘stumped’.

When do The Ashes 2023 start?

This year, the opening test between Australia and England starts on Friday 16 June 2023 at Birmingham’s Edgbaston Cricket Ground.

Each of the five tests tend to last five days so while the first test will end on 20 June, the teams will then head to London’s prestigious Lord’s cricket stadium between 28 June - 2 July 2023 for the second test.

England and Australia will tour England during the Ashes, with the third test taking place at Yorkshire Cricket Ground in Leeds, (from 6-10 July), Manchester’s Old Trafford from 19-23 July and London’s Kia Oval for the final test which lasts from 27-31 July.

The five tests will all commence at 11am each day they take place and are scheduled to last until 6pm, however the teams could play up to 6.30pm to allow 90 overs, although in the event of rain or poor lighting conditions, play may stop earlier for the day.

What are The Ashes?

The cricket competition between Australia and England has roots back in around 1882-1887, where the name The Ashes was penned by a British journalist after stating that ‘English cricket had died, and "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia"’ following their win on British soil.

The five test competition that sees each game lasting around five days is celebrated with the winning team holding a replica of an urn aloft, which allegedly holds the ashes of a cremated wooden bail. The original urn trophy was given as a gift to historic English cricket captain Ivo Bligh as he vowed to ‘regain those ashes’.

In all, there have been 72 Ashes series where Australia have triumphed in 34, England winning 32 and the two countries drawing in six.

Who is on the 2023 teams?

The English Ashes squad:

• Ben Stokes (c)

• Ollie Pope (vc, wk)

• Moeen Ali

• James Anderson

• Jonny Bairstow (wk)

• Stuart Broad

• Harry Brook

• Zak Crawley

• Ben Duckett

• Dan Lawrence

• Matthew Potts

• Ollie Robinson

• Joe Root

• Josh Tongue

• Chris Woakes

• Mark Wood

The Australian Ashes squad:

• Pat Cummins (c)

• Steve Smith (vc)

• Scott Boland

• Alex Carey (wk)

• Cameron Green

• Marcus Harris

• Josh Hazlewood

• Travis Head

• Josh Inglis (wk)

• Usman Khawaja

• Marnus Labuschagne

• Nathan Lyon

• Mitchell Marsh

• Todd Murphy

• Jimmy Peirson (wk)

• Matt Renshaw

• Mitchell Starc

• David Warner

How to watch The Ashes each day?

All five of The Ashes tests will be broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket as they are domestic events.

For those who cannot watch the full test each of the five days, the BBC will broadcast a highlights programme at 7pm after every play called Today at the Test on BBC2.