The Ashes 2025-26 - Australia vs England Preview & Prediction | 5th Test

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After winning their first Ashes test on Australian soil since 2010, England look to restore further respectability with victory at the SCG whilst Australia are aiming to finish a successful series on a high.

Date/time:

Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Sydney, Australia

Weather: A chance of a thundery shower or two across the opening two days but aside from that, expect plenty of sunshine and very hot conditions with temperatures creeping into the thirties on the final day.

How to watch: UK – TNT Sports / USA – Willow TV / Australia – Fox Sports and Channel 7

Australia vs England prediction

England at least gave their supporters something to cheers about over Christmas with victory in an incredible Boxing Day test, that was over in just two days. An MCG pitch with too much grass left on the surface proved to be far too difficult for both sets of batters, which led to somewhat of a four-innings shootout. In the end, it was England who came out on top after winning a key toss and batting last following multiple uses of the heavy roller. Ben Stokes’ side won by four wickets to avoid the dreaded 5-0 sweep.

The Ashes now moves to its final stop in Sydney and another historic ground in the SCG. Gus Atkinson is ruled out for the tourists with a hamstring injury with both pace bowler Matthew Potts and spinner Shoaib Bashir hoping to play. Australia will be playing their final test with Usman Khawaja in the side after the 38-year-old announced his retirement following the conclusion of this test. Captain Pat Cummins is expected to return to the Aussie line-up, whilst Todd Murphy will feature if the hosts require a specialist spinner.

After a bowler friendly test last time out, it would be no surprise if Sydney evened things up with a significantly more batter friendly surface. With that in mind, it may be worth focusing on high team scores. All focus will be on the SCG pitch and under the expectation that it will be a good one for the batters, it’s well worth backing over 318.5 runs in the first innings of this fifth test, regardless of who wins the toss and who eventually wins the test match.

Australia vs England tip: Over 318.5 runs in the first innings