Ashes 2025-26: Starc's First Over Heroics To Root's Final Frontier — 10 Talking Points

The 2025-26 Ashes series ended on Thursday with Australia beating England by five wickets on the fifth and final day of the fifth Test played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). With that Australia clinched the series 4-1.

Despite the hype before the series that it could be one of the closest in many years Down Under, it was decided after the first three matches. England did pull one back in the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

But Australia proved too strong in home conditions despite missing many key players over the course of the series.

Here is a look at the 10 moments that stood-out in the recently concluded Ashes tournament:

Before the final Test at the SCG got underway, everyone present at the venue paid their tributes to the victims of Bondi Beach attack. There was also a special guard of honour for the people who were the first responders on the dreaded day.

The gravity of moment even unified hardcore Australian and England fans.

Australia and more specifically Mitchell Starc made the intentions of winning the Ashes clear in the opening hour and more specifically the opening over of the series.

The left-arm pacer dismissed England opener Zak Crawley in the first over of the Ashes in Perth. It set the tone as Australia never really let England get too far ahead at any point in the series.

He dismissed Crawley another two times and Ben Duckett once in the first over of an innings during the series.

Starc had picked a wicket off the first-ball of the 2021-22 Ashes as well when he clean bowled Rory Burns. Over the years, the paceman has developed the knack of picking wickets in the first over of a contest and putting his team in command.

Joe Root and Steven Smith are part of international Fab Four (four batters coined the best of the modern era, alongside Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson). The two have played many Tests against each other but the Sydney Test was the first when both the batting legends hit a century in the same Test.

While Root hit a brilliant hundred in the first innings of the match, Smith responded with an equally superb century in the second innings. With the two men in their late 30s, it was probably the last time the two played against each other in a Test match.

A Boxing Day Ashes Test is always a match that die-hard cricket fans savour. The match is played at one of the biggest and most iconic venues at the MCG.

There was much anticipation around the Boxing Day Test of this Ashes series as well but all the hype got over quickly as the match ended in two days. On a pace-friendly pitch, England beat Australia by four wickets.

The pitch at the MCG came under heavy scrutiny which also divided opinions. Such were the conditions that 36 wickets fell in two days and no batter from either side reached a half-century.

The first match in Perth too ended in two days. For all the excitement that went on in those matches, a Test match finishing in less than three days is always an overall disappointment for cricket fans.

Victory in Melbourne meant England finally managed to win a Test in Australia for the first time since January 2011. Such has been Australia's dominance at home against their arch-rivals, that England were kept waiting for over 5,000 days to taste a win Down Under.

The third Test at Adelaide could very well turn out to be the final match of Nathan Lyon's career. The veteran spinner injured himself during the match and had to undergo surgery.

Such is the injury that it has left Lyon "shattered" with Australia's Test coach saying that "it'll be pretty long" before the spinner could play again for Australia.

If Lyon, who is 38, fails to play any more Tests for Australia, then he will retire as the second-most successful bowler in Australia's Test history. He is the only player amongst the top 11 wicket-takers in the format still actively playing.

Lyon has picked 567 wickets in 141 Tests and is the sixth-highest wicket-taker.

It took Australia just three Tests to settle the fate of the Ashes series. By winning the first three matches on the bounce Australia won the Ashes before England even had a sniff.

Australia secured their four consecutive Ashes series victory at home, a dominant run that started from the 2013–14 series. On each occasion, the hosts wrapped up the series by the third Test.

Although Australia have been dominant against England, in the same time frame they have lost two Test series against India, one against South Africa and drawn a Test series against the West Indies.

Root is rightfully considered England's greatest Test batter. For all the batting records that he has achieved in his stellar career there was one thing that was missing - a Test hundred in Australia.

So when he reached three-figure mark in Brisbane, it "lifted weight of the world" from his shoulders.

The batter with most centuries and most number of runs for England in Test cricket, did not know how to celebrate the moment and he just offered a shrug.

This Ashes series is probably Root's last in Australia and for good measure, he scored another Test ton at the SCG to better his overall record Down Under. He has 1,292 runs in 19 matches at an average of 38 - well below is career average of 51.07.

Despite the Ashes being a damp squib of a contest, England could potentially have won the first Test and made it interesting if the remaining matches ended exactly how they did.

In a very low-scoring affair, England set Australia 205-run target - the highest innings total till then was 172. Ben Stokes and his men would've thought they could stifle the Aussies and take a 1-0 lead.

Enter Travis Head! Opening the innings, Head slammed arguably the best Ashes century in Australia in the new millennium. The left-handed batter smashed 16 fours and four sixes en route to a splendid 123 of only 83 balls.

Australia won the match by eight wickets and never looked back in the series. England now know what a 'Headache' feels like on the cricket pitch, just like India have felt over the last few years.

There is no stopping Starc. The pacer is in his mid 30s but still in prime fitness. In a series where many players got injured and withdrew midway, Starc featured in all five Tests and picked 31 wickets.

For his brilliant bowling performance from the start till the end, the left-arm fast bowler won the Player of the Series award.Starc also scored two crucial half-centuries with the bat.

This was his second successive Ashes' Player of the Series award. He had won the award when Australia played in England in 2023.