# 2017–18 Ashes series

The 2017–18 Ashes series (named Magellan Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches contested between England and Australia for The Ashes. The series was played at five venues across Australia between 23 November 2017 and 8 January 2018. England were the defending holders of the Ashes going into the series, having won in 2015.
Australia won the series 4–0, regaining the Ashes after taking an unassailable lead with an innings victory in the third Test.

## Squads

| Australia | England |
| Steve Smith (c) David Warner (vc) Ashton Agar Cameron Bancroft Jackson Bird Pat Cummins Peter Handscomb Josh Hazlewood Usman Khawaja Nathan Lyon Mitchell Marsh Shaun Marsh Glenn Maxwell Tim Paine (wk) Chadd Sayers Mitchell Starc | Joe Root (c) James Anderson (vc) Moeen Ali Jonny Bairstow (wk) Jake Ball Gary Ballance Stuart Broad Alastair Cook Mason Crane Tom Curran Steven Finn Ben Foakes (wk) George Garton Dawid Malan Craig Overton Ben Stokes Mark Stoneman Chris Woakes James Vince |
In September 2017, Ben Stokes was named in the initial England squad, but was subsequently ruled out of international selection until further notice while a disciplinary process took place. The following month, he was withdrawn from the Ashes squad, pending an investigation, with Steven Finn added to England's squad. However, Finn himself was then ruled out of the tour, injuring his knee prior to the first warm-up game. Tom Curran was called up to replace him. James Anderson was named as England's vice-captain for the Test series in Stokes' absence. George Garton was added to England's squad as cover for Jake Ball during pre-Test tour matches, but returned to the England Lions when Ball recovered in time for the first Test.
Australia delayed naming its squad for the first two Tests until 17 November 2017, selecting Cameron Bancroft to replace Matthew Renshaw. Tim Paine returned to the team after a seven-year absence, ahead of Matthew Wade and Peter Nevill. Before the first Test, Glenn Maxwell was added to Australia's squad as cover for David Warner, who injured his neck at training. Mitchell Marsh was later added to Australia's squad ahead of the third Test, replacing Chadd Sayers.
Australia's Mitchell Starc and England's Craig Overton were both ruled out of the fourth Test, with heel and rib injuries respectively. Maxwell was replaced by Ashton Agar for the fifth Test. England's Chris Woakes was ruled out of the fifth Test due to injury.

## Venues

The five venues were the Gabba, Adelaide Oval, the WACA Ground, the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The WACA Ground was expected to host its final Test during the series, prior to the opening of the new Optus Stadium. However, it was said in November 2015 that construction of the new stadium was well ahead of schedule and the Perth Test could be hosted at the new venue. A decision on the venue was made in May 2017, with the WACA Ground confirmed as the venue, as the new stadium would not be ready in time.
In December 2016, Cricket Australia (CA) were looking at hosting the first day/night Ashes match, with Adelaide being the likely venue. On 12 December 2016, it was confirmed that Adelaide Oval would host the first day/night Ashes Test.

## Matches
### First Test

* 23–27 November 2017 Scorecard
* Australia won by 10 wickets The Gabba, Brisbane Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) and Marais Erasmus (SA) Player of the match: Steve Smith (Aus)
* England won the toss and elected to bat.
* Due to rain and bad light, 9.3 overs were lost on day 1.
* Cameron Bancroft (Aus) made his Test debut.
* Tim Paine (Aus) equalled the record for the most consecutive Test matches missed between successive appearances for Australia (78).
* Mitchell Starc (Aus) took his 150th Test wicket.
* Cameron Bancroft and David Warner (Aus) broke the record for the highest unbeaten opening stand in a successful run chase in a Test match.

### Second Test

* 2–6 December 2017 (D/N) Scorecard
* Australia won by 120 runs Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) and Chris Gaffaney (NZ) Player of the match: Shaun Marsh (Aus)
* England won the toss and elected to field.
* Due to rain, 9 overs were lost on day 1 and 18.5 overs lost on day 2.
* Craig Overton (Eng) made his Test debut and took his maiden Test wicket.

### Third Test

* 14–18 December 2017 Scorecard
* Australia won by an innings and 41 runs WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: Marais Erasmus (SA) and Chris Gaffaney (NZ) Player of the match: Steve Smith (Aus)
* England won the toss and elected to bat.
* Rain prevented play during the first session of day 5.
* Alastair Cook was the first player for England, and the eighth overall, to play 150 Tests.
* Dawid Malan (Eng) and Mitchell Marsh (Aus) both scored their first centuries in Tests.
* Australia's first innings' total was their highest score in an Ashes Test at home.
* Australia regained the Ashes as a result of this match.

### Fourth Test

* 26–30 December 2017 Scorecard
* Match drawn Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) and Sundaram Ravi (Ind) Player of the match: Alastair Cook (Eng)
* Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
* Rain stopped play from 3:00 pm on Day 4.
* Tom Curran (Eng) made his Test debut and took his maiden Test wicket.
* David Warner became the joint fourth-fastest Australian to score 6,000 Test runs.
* Alastair Cook (Eng) made the highest score by a visiting player at this venue. He also made his 11th score of 150 or more – the most by an England batsman – and became the sixth highest run-scorer in Tests. His first-innings score of 244 not out was the highest score while carrying the bat in Test cricket until it was bettered by Tom Latham in December 2018.

### Fifth Test

* 4–8 January 2018 Scorecard
* Australia won by an innings and 123 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) and Joel Wilson (WI) Player of the match: Pat Cummins (Aus)
* England won the toss and elected to bat.
* The toss was delayed by 130 minutes due to rain.
* Mason Crane (Eng) made his Test debut and took his maiden Test wicket.
* Jonny Bairstow (Eng) played his 50th Test.
* Steve Smith (Aus) became the joint second-fastest batsman (in terms of innings) to score 6,000 runs in Tests.
* Alastair Cook (Eng) became the youngest player to score 12,000 Test runs.
* Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh became the fifth pair of brothers, and the third Australian pair, to score a century in the same innings.

## Statistics

    As of fifth Test ending 8 January 2018

### Leading run-scorers

| Rank | Name | Runs | Inns. | NO | HS | Ave. | 100s | 50s | SR |
| 1 | Steve Smith | 687 | 7 | 2 | 239 | 137.40 | 3 | 2 | 48.51 |
| 2 | Shaun Marsh | 445 | 7 | 1 | 156 | 74.16 | 2 | 2 | 45.97 |
| 3 | David Warner | 441 | 8 | 1 | 103 | 63.00 | 1 | 3 | 52.37 |
| 4 | Dawid Malan | 383 | 9 | 0 | 140 | 42.55 | 1 | 3 | 42.69 |
| 5 | Joe Root | 378 | 9 | 1 | 83 | 47.25 | 0 | 5 | 49.02 |
| Source: ESPN cricinfo ||||||||||

### Leading wicket-takers

| Rank | Name | Wkts. | Ovs. | Mdns. | Runs | Eco. | Ave. | Best. |
| 1 | Pat Cummins | 23 | 197.1 | 43 | 567 | 2.87 | 24.65 | 8/119 |
| 2 | Mitchell Starc | 22 | 162.3 | 32 | 518 | 3.18 | 23.54 | 8/137 |
| 3 | Josh Hazlewood | 21 | 190.5 | 49 | 544 | 2.85 | 25.90 | 8/140 |
| 4 | Nathan Lyon | 21 | 260.1 | 61 | 614 | 2.36 | 29.23 | 6/105 |
| 5 | James Anderson | 17 | 223.3 | 70 | 473 | 2.11 | 27.82 | 6/117 |
| Source: ESPN cricinfo |||||||||

## Broadcasting

The series was broadcast on television in Australia by the Nine Network. As part of a five-year deal with Cricket Australia that commenced in 2016, BT Sport provided television coverage of the series in the United Kingdom and Ireland.