West Indies and Sri Lanka Provide Good Tests For England In Ashes Build-Up

While the 2025/26 Ashes series might seem to be far off in the distance, England’s preparations for their showdowns with Australia are already well underway.

This summer’s three-Test home series with the West Indies, followed a series with Sri Lanka, will provide head coach Brendon McCullum and his players a good opportunity to see where they are at with the next Ashes campaign edging ever closer.

Windies Looking To Cause An Upset

Getting set to compete for the Wisden Trophy, the West Indies will head to England looking to get one over on McCullum’s side this summer. England, who are +250 on the Paddy Power sports betting site to win the next Ashes series, have not played since losing a five-Test series 4-1 in India back in February and March. It was certainly a reality check for McCullum’s side but Paddy Power News will still have England as favourites to overcome the Windies over three-Tests on home soil this summer. The series begins with the first Test at Lord’s on July 10th, before the contest heads to Nottingham’s Trent Bridge. Concluding at the end of July, the Wisden Trophy will be lifted by one of these sides at Edgbaston.

The West Indies have struggled in recent years but they showed earlier this year that they can cause the top teams serious problems. Beating Australia in the second Test at The Gabba to draw a two-match series back in January, as covered by the BBC, was a major statement from the Windies. A result that sent shockwaves through the cricket world in the build-up to the next Ashes series, it was a performance that would have made England sit up and take notice. After that result in Brisbane, England skipper Ben Stokes and his side will know they can take nothing for granted against this Windies side.

Sri Lanka Will Need To Step Up

The Sri Lankans have not faced top-level opposition for some time and they will need to be ready for the challenge when they head to the UK later this year. Beating the likes of Afghanistan and Bangladesh, as reported by Al Jazeera, in their last two series, facing England in their own backyard will be a significant step up for Sri Lanka.

The size of the challenge certainly won’t be lost on their head coach Chris Silverwood, a Yorkshireman who played Test cricket for England between 1996 and 2002. Sri Lanka kick-start the series with a trip to Manchester for the opener at Old Trafford on August 21st. The series heads to the Home of Cricket at Lord’s, before the final Test is staged at The Oval. Sri Lanka then go on to face South Africa in what is a big year for Silverwood’s side.

Every Test match England play over the next 18 months will always have the context of the Ashes rumbling on in the background. The series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka offer up great opportunities for new faces to show they can step up and more senior figures to demonstrate they still have what it takes to compete when England head Down Under late next year.