Australia vs England Test timeline: from the first Test to the 2025–26 Ashes

Australia and England have contested men’s Test cricket since the format began in 1877. The Ashes came later: it is the name attached to their recurring Test series, not to every Test the teams have played.

That distinction matters when reading the timeline. The first Test, the 1977 Centenary Test and several other one-off or separate contests belong to the Australia–England Test record but not to the Ashes series record.

Timeline at a glance

Period	What happened	Statistical marker
1877	Australia and England played the first match now recognised as a men’s Test, at the MCG.	Australia won by 45 runs; England won the second Test to draw the series 1–1.
1882	Australia’s victory at The Oval inspired the newspaper obituary from which “the Ashes” name developed.	Australia defended 85 by dismissing England for 77, winning by seven runs.
1882–83	Ivo Bligh’s England side toured Australia promising to recover “the ashes”.	England won the recognised three-Test Ashes series 2–1.
1884–1912	England controlled most of the early rivalry before Australia became stronger around the turn of the century.	Across the first 22 Ashes series, England won 15 and Australia seven.
1920–21	The Ashes resumed after the First World War.	Australia completed the rivalry’s first 5–0 series sweep.
1930	Don Bradman transformed the balance of the contest.	He made 974 runs in five Tests as Australia won 2–1.
1932–33	England used the short-pitched, leg-side-packed method remembered as Bodyline.	England won 4–1 in Australia.
1948	Bradman captained the unbeaten “Invincibles” tour of England.	Australia won the Ashes 4–0.
1953–56	England regained control after Australia’s long Bradman-era ascendancy.	England won three consecutive series; Jim Laker took 19 for 90 at Manchester in 1956.
1970–71	England regained the Ashes in Australia.	England won 2–0 in a seven-Test series.
1977	The teams marked 100 years of Test cricket at the MCG.	Australia won the non-Ashes Centenary Test by 45 runs—the same margin as in 1877.
1981	Ian Botham and Bob Willis drove England’s celebrated recovery.	England won the six-Test series 3–1 after trailing 1–0.
1989–2003	Allan Border’s side began a prolonged period of Australian superiority.	Australia won eight consecutive Ashes series.
2005	England ended Australia’s series-winning run in a closely fought home contest.	England won 2–1; only two runs separated the sides in the Edgbaston Test.
2006–07	Australia immediately reclaimed the Ashes at home.	Australia won 5–0, the competition’s second five-Test whitewash.
2010–11	England recorded its first series victory in Australia since 1986–87.	England won 3–1, with three innings victories.
2013 and 2013–14	Back-to-back series produced opposite results.	England won 3–0 at home; Australia then won 5–0 at home.
2017–18	Australia regained the Ashes.	Australia won 4–0 and began its current run as holder.
2019–2023	Australia retained the Ashes through three series.	The 2019 and 2023 series in England finished 2–2; between them, Australia won 4–0 at home in 2021–22.
2025–26	Australia extended its hold on the Ashes at home.	Australia won 4–1.

The historical series results and margins are listed in ESPNcricinfo’s Australia–England Test series archive. Cricket Australia’s Ashes history provides era summaries and prominent performances.

1877–1883: Test cricket starts before the Ashes

The first recognised men’s Test began at Melbourne on 15 March 1877. Charles Bannerman scored 165 in Australia’s first innings, and the hosts beat England by 45 runs. England won the second match, leaving the inaugural series level at 1–1 (Cricket Australia).

Five years later at The Oval, Australia set England only 85 but Fred Spofforth helped dismiss the hosts for 77. A Sporting Times mock obituary declared that English cricket would be cremated and its ashes taken to Australia. Bligh’s touring side then won the recognised 1882–83 series 2–1.

The small urn associated with that tour was a private gift to Bligh, not a travelling trophy. It remained with his family until it was presented to MCC after his death; MCC says the urn “is not and never has been a trophy” (Lord’s). A separate crystal trophy has been presented to winning captains since the 1998–99 series (Lord’s).

1920–1951: Australia’s first sweep and the Bradman era

Australia began the post-First World War period with a 5–0 win in 1920–21. England answered with a 4–1 away victory in 1928–29, still its largest Ashes series win in Australia.

Bradman then made 974 runs in the 1930 series, including 334 at Headingley. Series runs are an aggregate, not an average: his five-Test total came across seven innings, with no not-outs, producing an average of 139.14. The distinction between runs, innings and dismissals is the same one used when calculating a batting average.

England’s Bodyline strategy secured a 4–1 win in 1932–33, but Australia won the next three series. After the Second World War, Bradman’s team won 3–0 in 1946–47 and 4–0 in England in 1948. Australia remained dominant through 1950–51.

1953–1987: control changes hands

England won three straight series from 1953 to 1956. Laker’s 19 wickets at Old Trafford in 1956 remain the defining statistical performance of that stretch: nine wickets in Australia’s first innings and all ten in the second.

Australia regained the Ashes 4–0 in 1958–59 and held them throughout the 1960s, helped by three drawn series. A drawn series does not create a joint winner: the existing holder retains the Ashes.

England reclaimed them in 1970–71, while Australia’s Lillee–Thomson attack powered a 4–1 win in 1974–75. England won heavily in 1977 and 1978–79, then took the 1981 series 3–1. Australia recovered in 1982–83, but England won again in 1985 and 1986–87.

1989–2026: Australian dominance, English revivals

Australia’s 4–0 win in England in 1989 began eight consecutive series victories. That run encompassed the attacks of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath and ended only when England won 2–1 in 2005. Australia responded with a 5–0 sweep in 2006–07.

England then won three consecutive series from 2009 to 2013, including 3–1 in Australia in 2010–11. The balance reversed sharply in 2013–14, when Australia won 5–0, before England regained the Ashes 3–2 in 2015.

Australia won 4–0 in 2017–18. The 2019 series in England finished 2–2, Australia won 4–0 at home in 2021–22, and another 2–2 draw in England in 2023 left Australia holding the Ashes throughout.

In 2025–26 Australia won the first three Tests, lost at Melbourne and won the Sydney finale by five wickets to complete a 4–1 series victory (ICC).

Through that latest series, the 74 recognised Ashes series break down as 35 Australian wins, 32 England wins and seven drawn series, as listed in the series archive. Those totals describe series outcomes, not individual Tests. For year-by-year match wins, losses and draws in the modern period, see Test match results by team, 2001–2026.