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 3–0, regaining The Ashes in the third Test going 2–0 up meaning Australia could not win the series.

## 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~~
* Dawid Malan
* Craig Overton
* Joe Root
* ~~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 The following month, he was withdrawn from the Ashes squad, pending an investigation, with Steven Finn added to England's squad.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.

## 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.

### **3rd Test**

* England won the toss and elected to bat.
* Rain prevented play during the first session of day 5.
* Alastair Cook was the second player for England, and the ninth overall, to play 150 Tests.
* *Dawid Malan (Eng) and Mitchell Marsh (Aus) both scored their first centuries in Tests*
* *England retained the Ashes as a result of this match.*

### **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 seventh 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) passed 24,000 runs in Test cricket.*