'It Is Going To Be Good': Steve Smith Sends Early 'Ashes' Warning To Ben Stokes' England, Takes Subtle Dig At Pitches Being Prepared By The ECB

The Ashes 2025: English Test skipper Ben Stokes, alongside Head Coach Brendon McCullum, has time and again stressed on the fact that how they want to make Test cricket interesting. It is safe to say that in the day and age of T20 cricket, England have revolutionized how red-ball cricket is being played. Infamously known as 'Bazball', England's method and way of playing cricket in an aggressive manner has reaped very sweet and memorable results for them over the past few years.

Steve Smith Warns Ben Stokes and Co. Ahead of Ashes 2025

The ongoing India vs. England series has witnessed heaps of runs being made by the batters of both teams. The pitches have been nothing but flat and do not have enough purchase for the bowlers. For quite some time, the surfaces in England have been extremely batter-friendly, which helps Stokes and co. to bat in an aggressive way.

Prior to Ashes 2025, ex-Australia skipper Steve Smith said that England might not have easy batting conditions at their disposal when they fly down to Australia for the Ashes that will be played later this year.

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"Their batters are going to be challenged a little bit differently to the wickets they have had over in England for a while, which have looked pretty flat and good for batting. The wickets in Australia in the last three or four years have been very tricky for top-order batters. It is going to be a good challenge for them," said Smith, as quoted on BBC Sport.

Here's a Look at the Ashes 2025-26 Schedule

• Nov 21–Nov 25: 1st Test at Perth Stadium, Perth
• Dec 04–Dec 08: 2nd Test at The Gabba, Brisbane
• Dec 17–Dec 21: 3rd Test at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
• Dec 26–Dec 30: 4th Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
• Jan 04–Jan 08: 5th Test at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney

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England Eye Maiden WTC Title

Ben Stokes has followed Eoin Morgan's footsteps and what he had done with England's ODI team after the 2015 World Cup. Though Morgan bowed out of the game as a World Cup-winning captain, Stokes's England are yet to conquer the pinnacle of the longest format of the game by winning the World Test Championship (WTC) mace.