Test Match Special

Eleanor Oldroyd is out and about in Perth for reaction to England naming their twelve-man squad for the first Ashes Test. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has his say on where the first Test could be won, England fast bowler Gus Atkinson looks ahead to the first match of the series, and Chief Cricket Reporter Stephan Shemilt and TMS commentator Simon Mann dissect the twelve in England's squad. Plus, how could Australia line up after a hint from Australia bowler Mitchell Starc said he would bat at eight.

Every weekday during the 2025-26 Ashes, comedian and statistician Andy Zaltzman poses new a cricketing conundrum. It won’t be easy though. You might want to take it away, share in your group chats and challenge your friends. Andy will reveal the answer the following day. Test Match Special has live commentary on BBC Sounds with a team including Jonathan Agnew, Simon Mann and Jim Maxwell. England's 2005 Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan, legendary Australia seamer Glenn McGrath and ex-England spinners Phil Tufnell and Alex Hartley will be part of the punditry team.

Ashton Agar talks through his remarkable innings at Trent Bridge in 2013, where aged 19 he scored a brilliant 98. Agar tells Stephan Shemilt all the details of a special day.

Steve Crossman is joined by Mark Ramprakash, Jack Leach and Durham's Australian coach Ryan Campbell to look ahead to the opening Test of the Ashes series that begins on Friday in Perth. They will also be joined by Australian journalist Geoff Lemon. They discuss the challenges of touring in Australia, the importance of the opening ball of the series, as well as the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two sides including; the leadership, spinners, pace attacks, and the Aussie top order. Timecodes: 00:03:43 - expectations of the series 00:12:30 - The importance of the first ball of the Ashes 00:18:12 - Touring Australia and the phoney war 00:23:17 - What should England expect in Perth? 00:33:53 - Ben Stokes 00:45:40 - Australia without Cummins and Hazlewood 00:58:38 - Spinners 01:15:51 - England's pace attack 01:25:20 - Australia's top order 01:30:45 - Joe Root

Every weekday during the 2025-26 Ashes, comedian and statistician Andy Zaltzman poses new a cricketing conundrum. It won’t be easy though. You might want to take it away, share in your group chats and challenge your friends. Andy will reveal the answer the following day. Test Match Special has live commentary on BBC Sounds with a team including Jonathan Agnew, Simon Mann and Jim Maxwell. England's 2005 Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan, legendary Australia seamer Glenn McGrath and ex-England spinners Phil Tufnell and Alex Hartley will be part of the punditry team.

Eleanor Oldroyd chats to Phil Tufnell and Alex Hartley, plus we have a look around the Perth Stadium as the countdown to the first Test continues.

Jonathan Agnew and Stephan Shemilt are in Perth where the men’s Ashes begins in just 5 days’ time. Ollie Pope joins us to talk about the pressure of cementing his number three slot and losing the vice captaincy to Harry Brook. Former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie discusses the loss of Josh Hazlewood and a possible Ashes debut for Brendan Doggett and Aggers shares memories of previous Perth visits including playing tennis with the England captain and being seconded to bowl at England players in the nets.

Jonathan Agnew and Stephan Shemilt round up all the Ashes tour news including details of England’s win against the Lions with Ollie Pope again in the runs, and we get an Australian view from ABC Radio reporter Mitch Turner plus England fast bowler Brydon Carse joins the podcast.

Ollie Pope scored a hundred in England’s warm-up game against the Lions at Lilac Hill. There were also runs for Ben Stokes, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, but Joe Root, Harry Brook and Jamie Smith missed out. Chief Cricket reporter Stephan Shemilt rounds up the action in Perth and is joined by cricket author and Times journalist Simon Wilde We also get reaction from Zak Crawley and hear from multiple Ashes winner Sarah Taylor who’s part of the Lions coaching set-up,

Chief Cricket reporter Stephan Shemilt reports from Lilac Hill on a mixed opening day of England’s Ashes tour. Ben Stokes picked up four wickets in his first competitive bowl since July, but there was an injury concern over Mark Wood. Stephan is joined by George Dobell from the Cricketer and we hear from England vice captain Harry Brook.

England captain Ben Stokes has been speaking to the TMS pod ahead of his side’s three-day game against an England Lions team on Thursday in Perth. He tells chief cricket reporter Stephan Shemilt how England will go "balls to the wall" in the match tomorrow after "has-beens" questioned their limited preparation in Australia. Steph is also joined by cricket journalist Rory Dollard and the pair discuss Josh Hazlewood being cleared to join Australia's squad for the first Test and captain Pat Cummins being out. The BBC will be providing 24/7 coverage of The Ashes, with full audio commentary on Test Match Special and 5 Live Breakfast at the Ashes, a live text service, a full highlights programme and the TMS Daily Ashes digest on iPlayer. Plus, the daily TMS podcast, extensive coverage across social media and a visualised Tailenders at the end of every Test.

Former England fast bowler David Larter was part of the England squad to head to the 1962/63 Ashes, the last time the team travelled down to Australia by boat. He speaks to the BBC’s Chief Cricket Reporter Stephan Shemilt about his memories of the journey, as well as being made to run round the boat to keep fit, stopping off in Colombo to play a warm-up match, and how he went from being talked about by the Australian press to featuring in a single Ashes Test.

Former England fast bowler Steven Finn, former Australian batter Simon Katich and Australian journalist Melinda Farrell join Mark Chapman to assess Australia's squad ahead of the Ashes. Is it this Australia side’s last dance? Who will open? And how strong is their bowling attack? Plus, the sledging has already started and can Joe Root put his struggles down under behind him. The BBC will be providing 24/7 coverage of The Ashes. Full audio commentary on Test Match Special and 5 Live Breakfast at the Ashes, a live text service, a full highlights programme and the TMS Daily Ashes digest on iPlayer. Plus, the daily TMS podcast, extensive coverage across social media and a visualised Tailenders at the end of every Test.

Kate Cross & Alex Hartley look back at the 2025 Women's World Cup which saw India win their first ever title. They discuss India’s incredible victories over Australia and South Africa, the unlikely hero in Shafali Verma, and why it feels like the beginning of the end of an era in women’s cricket.

The BBC’s Chief Cricket Reporter Stephan Shemilt speaks to Ryan Harris about his explosive Ashes career. From his own 'ball of the century' dismissing Sir Alastair Cook, being the perfect sidekick to Mitchell Johnson, his injury woes which limited the amount of Tests he played, and whether he'd ever have played for England with his dad being from Leicester.

Henry Moeran is alongside 2017 World Cup winner Alex Hartley, TMS regular Prakash Wakankar, commentator Daniel Norcross, and TMS statistician Phil Long in Navi Mumbai for reaction to India winning the 2025 Women’s World Cup. Hear the thoughts of India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Amanjot Kaur, and losing captain Laura Wolvaardt. Plus, journalists Firdose Moonda and Zenia D’cunha discuss the wider impact of just how big the World Cup has been in India.

Alison Mitchell looks back at how England won the first ever Women’s World Cup, with the tournament hosted in England. She speaks to cricket journalist and historian Raf Nicholson, plus we hear some archive interviews from England legend Rachael Heyhoe-Flint.

Alison Mitchell looks back at how Australia won their first two World Cups. She talks to Sharon Tredrea, who some call the fastest female to ever bowl, and cricket journalist and historian Raf Nicholson about how Australia won the 1982 World Cup in New Zealand. Plus, she talks to Diana Edulji who captained India when they hosted the 1978 tournament.

Henry Moeran is joined by Alex Hartley, Daniel Norcross and Ffion Wynne to look ahead to India's date with destiny against South Africa in Navi Mumbai.

Alison Mitchell is alongside former England captain Jane Powell and cricket journalist and historian Raf Nicholson to look back at the 1988 Women's World Cup, where tournament hosts Australia won the tournament for the third time. Powell captained England in the competition and recalls her memory of the final.