The Ashes betting odds

• Ladbrokes previews The Ashes 2025/26

• Australia favourites to win the series

• Steve Smith leading the top run scorer market

The wait is finally over as The Ashes kicks off Down Under, with Ben Stokes looking to become the first England captain since Andrew Strauss to lift the famous urn in Australia.

After the thrilling and at times controversial series in England in 2023, which was drawn 2-2 and meant Australia retained The Ashes, there has been plenty of hype and build-up and now the main event is set to get underway.

Australia enter the series as slight favourites to win outright at 4/7, with England the underdogs at 2/1 and a drawn series priced at 8/1. Ladbrokes runs through the full Ashes schedule, looking at who might play a starring role as these two old enemies clash again.

• 1st Test - Perth - November 21-25

• 2nd Test (day/night) - Brisbane - December 4-8

• 3rd Test - Adelaide - December 17-21

• 4th Test - Melbourne - December 26-30

• 5th Test - Sydney - January 3-7

Despite being 2/1 outsiders to regain the famous urn Down Under, nearly two in three bets (64.4%) on the outright series winners have been in favour of Joe Root and co, while less than one in five (19.1%) are backing the 4/7 favourites, Australia.

With the action soon set to get underway in Perth, England are 6/4 to get off to a winning start, while Australia lead the way at 8/11, with the draw being a 10/1 shot.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: It might be one of the toughest series' to call in recent years, but punters are clearly convinced England will be coming back with the Ashes.

Steve Smith (7/2) looks set to win the battle of the runscorers ahead of Joe Root (9/2) and Harry Brook (5/1), while Mitchell Starc is unsurprisingly the 11/4 favourite to take the most wickets across the series.

Australia vice-captain Smith, who spent the build-up to the series watching old clips of Monty Panesar on Mastermind, has a superb record against England, scoring 3417 runs against them at an average of 56.01.

Root and Brook are the number one and two ranked batsmen in the world after a stellar 2025, and much of England's hopes will rest on the two Yorkshiremen.

England full Ashes squad:

• Zak Crawley

• Ben Duckett

• Ollie Pope

• Joe Root

• Harry Brook

• Ben Stokes (C)

• Jamie Smith (WK)

• Jacob Bethell

• Will Jacks

• Jofra Archer

• Mark Wood

• Brydon Carse

• Josh Tongue

• Gus Atkinson

• Matthew Potts

• Shoaib Bashir

Joe Root is the favourite to be England's leading run scorer at odds of 2/1 after a sensational couple of years since Brendan McCullum became head coach.

Harry Brook isn't far behind at 9/4, with Ladbrokes ambassador and former England bowler Darren Gough seeing Brook as key to England's fortunes.

Ben Duckett (9/2) has been a revelation at the top of the order and could also be integral in setting the tone with partner Zak Crawley (7/1).

Jofra Archer appears to have finally put injury concerns behind him and is favourite to be England's leading wicket taker at 5/2, but his fitness will have to be carefully managed, as will Mark Wood's (15/2).

With England set to rely on express pace and rotate their bowlers between matches, the race appears to be wide open. Injury permitting, talisman and captain Stokes would be expected to play every game, and showed in the summer that his bowling is back to his best, so at 9/2 could be the value bet.

Australia full Ashes squad:

• Usman Khawaja

• Jake Weatherald

• Marnus Labuschagne

• Steve Smith

• Travis Head

• Cameron Green

• Beau Webster

• Alex Carey (WK)

• Josh Inglis

• Pat Cummins (C)

• Mitchell Starc

• Josh Hazlewood

• Scott Boland

• Nathan Lyon

• Sean Abbott

• Brendan Doggett

• Michael Neser

Steve Smith has been the bane of England fans' existence in Ashes series gone by, and many wouldn't be surprised to wake up in the morning to find he has scored yet another century. The favourite for the series' leading run scorer is naturally the favourite to be Australia's leader at 15/8.

The leading run scorer last time Down Under in a 4-0 win for Australia was Travis Head, and he's 10/3 to do so this time around. Speaking to Ladbrokes, former England bowler Steve Harmison and Australia batter Marcus North both pinpointed Marnus Labuschagne as a potential difference-maker for the Baggy Greens, and he's 4/1 to lead his team in runs.

Aussie captain Pat Cummins and fast bowler Josh Hazlewood will both miss the opening Test, paving the way for Mitchell Starc to take centre stage. The left-armer led the 2023 series in wickets taken with 23, and bowled Rory Burns with the first ball of the 2021/22 series. Starc is 7/4 to be Australia's leading wicket-taker, ahead of Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland (both 11/4).

View the latest cricket odds here.

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.