When does play start in Ashes 2021/22? UK time Australia vs England first Test starts - Day 1 schedule

England are now two days away from playing their second Ashes test match: the first day/night test of the Ashes series.

Australia are the current holders of the precious urn after the 2019 series draw in England. Australia also smashed England in the first test in Brisbane and England will be desperate to level the scorecard

The Ashes series will continue at the Adelaide Oval. England have a better record at this ground than the previous but it is still not a glowing report.

There have been 32 matches played between the two nations at the Oval with England winning nine and drawing five.

Root will be desperate to recreate some of the 2010/11 magic that saw England beat the Australians by an innings and 71 runs. Root is currently ranked as the highest ICC Test batsman in the world and will be hopeful that the first Test match was a mere blip in his record as he returns to the pitch in less than two days time.

He has scored 1455 in 2021 so far and his average of 66.13 will be crucial if England are to succeed against the formidable Australians.

Australia’s new test captain and current ICC top ranked bowler Pat Cummins will lead his side in the hope of winning the Ashes once more and has spoken ahead of the first test: “We’ve got some of the all time greats of Australian cricket in our changing room and when you get most of them clicking we’re going to be a pretty tough team to beat.”

Here’s all the information ahead of the first day’s play in the Second Ashes 2021/22 Test

When does the first test begin?

The first test will begin on Thursday 16 December 2021 and will conclude on Monday 20 December, if the teams require all five days of play.

Where is the first test being played?

England will hope to level the Ashes 2021/22 scores at the Adelaide Oval Ground.

What is the schedule for the first day of play?

The Cricket will begin at 4am GMT and will likely go on until 11am GMT if there are no weather interruptions.

Each day’s play will continue to start at 4am.

The first session will likely go on until 6am GMT with the next session beginning 40 minutes later.

The tea break will likely begin at 8.40am GMT and on return, the cricketers will hope to play for a further two hours.

Play will conclude at 11am GMT each morning.

How to follow the Ashes

BT Sport have coverage of all five of the Ashes test matches. Monthly passes are available from £25/month.

Go to our article on how to follow the Ashes to find out more.

What are the squads for the first test match?

Joe Root has not announced the squad for the second test match but England will hopefully see the return of Stuart Broad and James Anderson.

Predicted England: Joe Root (c) James Anderson , Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes,

Predicted Australia: Pat Cummins (c) , Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Head, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner

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