Its Going To Be A Big Challenge…: Steve Smith Issues Warning To Ben Stokes-Led England Ahead Of 2025-26 Ashes

The much-anticipated Ashes 2025–26 Test series between Australia and England is scheduled to be played from November 21, 2025, to January 8, 2026. The five-match series, which is a part of the 2025–2027 ICC World Test Championship, will mark another chapter in cricket’s oldest rivalry.

Pat Cummins led-Australia are the current holders of Ashes and Ben Stokes’ England will aim to reclaim the urn on Australian soil. However, star Australia batter Steve Smith has warned England, especially their batters about the challenging conditions in the country. 

The 36-year-old feels that England plays a really aggressive brand of cricket but it’s going to be a big challenge for them in the upcoming Test series in Australia. 

“I’ve watched a lot of the series against India and I think it was one of the best Test series I’ve seen for a long time. The cricket that was played by both teams was outstanding. So, I think England have a good side at the moment. They’re obviously playing a really aggressive brand of cricket, and I think coming down to Australia, particularly for their batters, it’s going to be a big challenge,” Smith told Sky Sports on the sidelines of The Hundred.

“I think the wickets in the last three or four years have been really tricky. We’ve obviously got a very experienced bowling lineup with guys that have played for a long period of time and been extremely successful. So I’m looking forward to the summer.

I think it’s going to be a great series. I know that last Ashes was during covid-19 and the Barmy Army and stuff couldn’t come down. So the atmosphere is going to be entirely different. We love playing in front of big crowds and hostile crowds on both sides. So it’s going to be good fun,” he added.  

Notably, star batter Joe Root, who has been in sensational batting form in the last few years in Test cricket, will be key to England’s success in Australia. Ahead of the Ashes 2025-26, Smith praised Root’s ability to convert fifties into big hundreds over the past two years.

“I think not just in that series, the last probably two years he’s just been incredible. His ability to make big scores, go from 50 to 100, which was probably one thing that he got caught in that 50 to 100 spot for quite a while. Now he’s just making it count and going on and making huge scores. So, I think he hasn’t scored a 100 in Australia,” he said. 

“I think that’s been talked about quite a lot. I’m sure that’s something that he wants to tick off his bucket list as well. So, like I said, it’s going to be tricky for batting, particularly for top order batters. From an Australian point of view, hopefully he doesn’t get 100 this summer, but I know that he’ll be working hard towards it,” he added. 

Former Australia skipper further mentioned that his team will focus on letting their skills do the job against England. 

“I think the way we’ve played our cricket the last while is just trying to let our skills do the talking. We’ve played really good cricket in the last four years in Test cricket, making two World Test Championship finals. So, we’re doing a lot of things right. For us, it’s just letting our skills take over. We know the Australian conditions well, obviously. Hopefully our skills are better than England’s,” said Smith. 

Ashes 2025-26 Full Schedule

21-25 November: West Test, Perth Stadium, Perth

4-8 December: Day-Night Test, The Gabba, Brisbane

17-21 December: Christmas Test, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

26-30 December: Boxing Day Test, MCG, Melbourne

4-8 January: Pink Test, SCG, Sydney