As the Ashes 2025-26 is less than a week away, the atmosphere is already quite abuzz, not just among the players, but the former cricketers as well, who have been there done that. James Anderson, arguably the best pacer in the format, has already retired from Tests. However, he has come forward to express his excitement for the series.
Speaking on which team among the two would enter the Ashes as the favourites to earn the urn, Anderson went against his country to term the Australians as the front-runners to clinch the five-match series. However, he believes that England are only marginally behind, and will certainly be up for the challenge. However, playing at home, Australia are the favourites to edge out the Three Lions, Anderson reckoned.
“I don’t think England are quite favourites, I’d say Australia are still favourites, in Australia. They probably just edge out England in terms of being favourites, but I don’t think there’s much in it. It’s a tough one to call, so I’d say Australia, just,” Anderson told TNT Sports.
The Lancashire cricketer further noted that the Aussies will be without their captain Pat Cummins, at least for the first Test, which is a huge setback. In fact, recently, Josh Hazlewood was also ruled out of the opening encounter which will be played in Perth. As a result, a weakened Australian side is going to be England’s best chance to gain an early advantage in the series, Anderson has claimed.
“There are doubts around who’s going to bat in the top three. Pat Cummins missing is huge, for at least the first Test. There’s still a lot of quality in their batting line-up, there’s still a lot of quality with their bowlers as well, even if Cummins is missing. The likes of Steven Smith, (Usman) Khawaja, Travis Head, there’s a lot of quality there,” Anderson added.
“There are question marks there, definitely, and there are cracks that England could potentially expose. There’s a great chance for England to get on top early,” he expressed.
Having played 39 Tests in the Ashes himself, Anderson has taken a staggering 117 wickets including a total of five five-wicket hauls. Not to forget that Anderson is the pacer with most wickets in Test cricket, with 704 wickets in 188 matches. It will be interesting to see how Ben Stokes leads his troops in his first-ever Ashes series without Anderson or Stuart Broad being a part of the English line-up.
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