The Ashes 2025 begins in November in Australia.
Legendary fast bowler Glenn McGrath has issued a bold prediction ahead of the Ashes 2025, backing Australia to whitewash England in their own backyard later this year.
The former pacer, who claimed 563 Test wickets, has made it a tradition to forecast a dominant home victory, and he’s sticking to it. He gave the same prediction before the 2023 series, which finished 2-2, allowing Australia to retain the urn.
England have not tasted a Test win in Australia since the 2010–11 tour and haven’t claimed an Ashes series since 2015. Their struggles without injured skipper Ben Stokes, who missed the India series, have been glaring.
That dependence on their talismanic all-rounder was evident in their narrow six-run defeat to India at The Oval. With Stokes expected to return, England will hope to end their long drought on Australian soil.
“It’s very rare for me to make a prediction, isn’t it? And I can’t make a different one—5-0. I’m very confident with our team. When you’ve got Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon firing in their home conditions, it’s going to be pretty tough. Plus, with that track record England has had, it'd be interesting to see if they can win a Test,” McGrath told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Australia thrashed England 4-0 in the 2021–22 tour and have been formidable at home, winning 11 of their last 15 Tests, losing only two. McGrath also highlighted Joe Root and Harry Brook as key threats to Australia.
Root, despite scoring 892 Test runs in Australia and notching nine half-centuries, is yet to register a century there. He averages 35.68 down under, well below his career average of 51.29, with a highest score of 89.
"This series will be a big one for Root. He's never really done that well in Australia; he's not even got a 100 over there, so he'll be keen to get out there. He's in fine form. Brook's the one that I've enjoyed watching. He just goes out there, plays his game, and takes it on. The Australians will need to get on him pretty early.
Ben Duckett is such an aggressive opener. Zak Crawley would be keen to score a few more runs than he has previously. It's the top order or top and middle order of England against the Australian fast bowlers and Lyon. That's going to be a big match-up,” McGrath added.
England hopes to defy McGrath's prediction for once when the first Test starts in Perth in November.
(PTI inputs)