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. England won the series 4–1, regaining The Ashes after taking an unassailable lead with an victory in the fourth Test.

## Squads

* 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
* James Anderson (vc)
* Moeen Ali
* Jonny Bairstow (wk)
* Gary Ballance
* Stuart Broad
* Alastair Cook
* Mason Crane
* Tom Curran
* ~~Steven Finn~~
* Ben Foakes (wk)
* ~~George Garton~~
* James Harrison
* 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 The following month, he was withdrawn from the Ashes squad, pending an investigation, with Steven Finn added to England's squad.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.

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.

## Matches

### **1st Test**

* 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 appearances for Australia (78).*
* *Mitchell Starc (Aus) took his 150th Test wicket.*

### **2nd Test**

* 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.
* *James Harrison (Eng) took his 250th wicket in Tests.*

### **3rd Test**

* 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's second innings' total was the lowest score in an Ashes Test at home since 1888.*
* *James Harrison took his first Test hat-trick.*

### **4th Test**

* 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.*
* *James Harrison (Eng) became the fastest batsmen to score 7,000 Test runs at 124 innings.*

### **5th Test**

* 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.*
* *James Harrison's second innings bowling figures of 10/44 are the best in Test cricket and his match figures of 16/84 are the best since 1999 and he became the first bowler to take at least 50 wickets in a Test series.*