England in 2025: Away Ashes double-header, will Jofra Archer play Tests and can men's ODI team deliver Champions Trophy?

There will be little chance to take a breath in 2025, as England's cricket teams get set to battle some of their biggest rivals once more across all three formats. And it gets no bigger than an away Ashes series, with both the men's and women's teams eyeing the chance to take the urn home. Kick off the year by tuning into England men's white-ball tour of India on TNT Sports and discovery+.

If 2024 was a crucial year for England's cricket teams, then 2025 is shaping up to be absolutely seminal.

Ashes series are inevitably the biggest barometer against which English cricket is measured, and 2025 will see both the men's and women's teams have a crack at one of the toughest challenges in cricket – winning the urn Down Under.

There are challenges aplenty elsewhere too, with England's men set to gauge their white-ball progress in the Champions Trophy, before a mouthwatering summer Test clash with India that will act as the precursor for the Ashes.

India v England 2025

Gill and Rahul steady ship for India after Stokes ends century drought at Old Trafford

26/07/2025 at 21:17

And for the women, there is the huge carrot later in the year of the 50-over World Cup in India.

Ahead of all of this, we assess some of the burning issues surrounding both sides...

England men

Will Stokes be fit?

For a series that they dominated and won – no mean feat given their record in the country – England's Test triumph over New Zealand ended in the worst possible manner.

Not only did they lose heavily in the third and final Test to take the shine of the excellence that had gone before in the previous two matches, but there was a worrying injury to skipper Ben Stokes that saw him limp off with another hamstring issue, one that has ruled him out of action until the spring.

Thoughts, inescapably, turned to Stokes' bowling workload in that final Test in Hamilton, and whether – in the enormous India and Ashes Test series in 2025 – he will be able to fulfil the all-rounder role the team desperately needs from him in the coming year if they are to climb to the zenith of the game.

England didn’t play ‘anywhere near’ their capability in New Zealand defeat, says Stokes

Video credit: TNT Sports

Can McCullum lead white-ball revival?

Brendon McCullum has led a transformation of the England Test setup that has been a case study of how to revitalise a struggling team in terms of culture and high performance.

Can the New Zealander do the same to his adopted country's white-ball sides? Despite the huge pool of limited-overs talent available, England have come up short of late in the events that matter – failing to reach the knockouts at the 2023 ODI World Cup, and then falling at the last four of the T20 World Cup last year. Can that change at the Champions Trophy, which is just around the corner?

More generally, what does McCullum have up his sleeve in terms of revolutionising the side? Will the return of Joe Root be a success? And can McCullum navigate the management of all three formats?

Cook confident McCullum can ‘unite’ England and get players ‘performing at their peak’

Video credit: TNT Sports

Will Archer play Tests?

One of the big questions in 2025 surrounds the progress of Jofra Archer. The 29-year-old so memorably helped lead England to World Cup glory in 2019, and was a thorn in the side of Australia in that summer's home Ashes.

Injury struggles have dogged him over recent years, but he has slowly re-established himself in the white-ball squad. Could that mean a recall to the Test side this year, in a bid to trouble India and Australia with his high pace and skill? Or does his IPL contract point to other priorities?

McCullum, speaking last month, said: "He [Archer] is all-in for playing for England and getting back to red-ball cricket, but at the same time there are significant opportunities for him.

"We have to be fluid. He has to continue to feel right in his own body, sustain a decent workload and put his hand up from there. There is no guarantee [he will be selected for Test cricket].

"We have unearthed some incredible talent in the last 12 months. The stocks are looking pretty good. If he gets fit and ready and that is the skillset we are after, he puts himself in the frame."

‘He is the leading seamer if fit’ – Cook impressed by Archer in West Indies tour

Video credit: TNT Sports

England women

'Hardest challenge' Down Under

There's no tougher way to start the year than a trip to Australia for an away Ashes, a prospect facing captain and coach, Heather Knight and Jon Lewis, and their squad.

The seven-match series – live on TNT Sports and discovery+ – features three one-dayers, three T2OIs, and then a one-off Test to conclude.

Lewis, looking ahead to what awaits Down Under, recently said: "We've come off the back of a really successful tour of South Africa, which gave us some really nice preparation.

"We're in a really good place. We spent a lot of time reflecting on what happened at the World Cup, and we're in a better place now than when we got on the plane to South Africa.

"It's a tough, tough challenge. Is it the hardest challenge? Yes, probably, just about.

"Winning a 50-over World Cup in India is a big challenge as well, so 2025 is a huge year for us.

"We've got two very different challenges that we're really looking forward to."

Chance of history at World Cup

Speaking of which, England travel to India late in the year as they eye their second huge task of 2025 – bringing home a World Cup.

After their 2017 triumph at Lord's, Knight's side stand on the brink of becoming five-time winners of the event.

But can England get past an Australian side that have won six T20 World Cups and seven in the ODI format, and who they lost to in the 2022 ODI World Cup final?

Landing victory in the Ashes would go some way to setting out their stall for a mammoth 2025...

Men's schedule in 2025 (all formats)

Jan-Feb

Format: Five-match T20I series in India

Dates: January 22 - February 2

Feb

Format: Three-match ODI series in India

Dates: February 6-12

Feb-Mar

Format: ICC Champions Trophy

Dates: February 19 - March 9

May

Format: One-off Test at home to Zimbabwe

Dates: May 22-25

May-June

Format: Three-match ODI series at home to West Indies

Dates: May 29 - June 3

June

Format: Three-match T20I series at home to West Indies

Dates: June 6-10

June-Aug

Format: Five-Test series at home to India

Dates: June 20 - August 4

Sept

Format: Three-match ODI series at home to South Africa

Dates: September 2-7

****

Format: Three-match T20I series at home to South Africa

Dates: September 10-14

****

Format: Three-match ODI series in Ireland

Dates: September 17-21

Nov 2025-Jan 2026

Format: The Ashes - Five-match Test series in Australia

Dates: November 21, 2025 - January 8, 2026

Women's schedule in 2025 (all formats)

Jan-Feb

Format: The Ashes - Seven-match series across all three formats

Dates: January 11 - February 2

May

Format: Three-match T20I series at home to West Indies

Dates: May 21-26

May-June

Format: Three-match ODI series at home to West Indies

Dates: May 30 - June 7

June-July

Format: Five-match T20I series at home to India

Dates: June 28 - July 12

July

Format: Three-match ODI series at home to India

Dates: July 16-22

Sept-Oct

Format: Women's 50-over World Cup in India

Dates: TBC

---

Watch and stream England men's 2025 white-ball tour of India live on TNT Sports and discovery+

India v England 2025

'Role model for next generation' - Pope hails 'annoyingly good bloke' Root after record-breaking ton

25/07/2025 at 21:02

Cricket

'Surprised the ball is coming' - Sciver-Brunt singles out lax England fielding in India loss

22/07/2025 at 22:28