Skipper Ben Stokes defends England's preparation for the Ashes cricket series in Australia

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Skipper Ben Stokes defends England's preparation for the Ashes cricket series in Australia

2025-11-12 15:34 Last Updated At：15:40

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Skipper Ben Stokes has defended England's lack of warm-up matches ahead of the first Ashes cricket test against Australia in Perth beginning Nov. 21.

England is aiming to break a 14-year winless run in Australia. Stokes and fellow veteran Joe Root have never won a test match in Australia, and there's no survivors in this squad from England's 2010-11 series win.

Australia has won 5-0, 4-0, and 4-0 the last three times England has traveled Down Under for the most anticipated series in world cricket.

England's only preparation in Australia for this series is a three-day match against the England Lions, essentially an England A team, starting on Thursday at Lilac Hill.

That decision has drawn criticism from Ashes greats on both sides such as Ian Healy, Ian Botham and Geoffrey Boycott.

But Stokes believes England’s preparation will be more than sufficient.

“There’s obviously state (domestic first-class) cricket going on at the moment,” Stokes said Wednesday. “Time has got to be taken into consideration as well. Some of our squad members were playing the (white-ball) series in New Zealand."

England was swept 3-0 by New Zealand in a series of one-day internationals.

Most of Australia's Ashes test players are tuning up in those first-class matches this week, but it come at a cost for the host nation. Fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott had to leave New South Wales' game against Victoria on Wednesday for medical scans. Hazlewood was cleared and will join the test squad in Perth. Abbott was ruled out with a left hamstring strain.

Stokes also said cricket's “jam-packed” schedule makes it more difficult to prepare for a five-match test series than “10, 15, 20, 30 years ago.”

“We put a lot of time and effort into how we prepare for every series, and that hasn’t changed with this one," Stokes added. "Come the 21st of this month, we know that we would have done everything possible that we could have done.”

Root, who is the No. 1-ranked batter in test cricket and is the second-highest scorer in the format all-time, has not scored a century in 14 tests in Australia.

“He’s the greatest English batter that the nation’s seen,” Stokes said. “He’s been in phenomenal form over the last two, three years. He’s not come out here to score a 100 in Australia, he’s come out here to contribute to the team.”

Stokes said his team should not be overwhelmed playing in Australia.

“Coming to Australia for the Ashes is a lot different than anything else when you’re playing,” he said. “There’s a lot more that goes on away from the cricket itself."

Australia skipper Pat Cummins, a paceman who has already been ruled out of the first test while he recovers from a back injury, sounded optimistic about long-time pace partner Hazlewood's fitness when he fronted the media in Sydney.

“They both got scans," he said of Hazlewood and Abbott, according to the Nine Network. “I haven’t 100% got across all the details but I think Joshy was pretty chipper.

“Obviously we’re a week away from the test series and you always kind of err on the side of caution and they wanted to find out what was happening before pushing it.”

Cricket Australia later confirmed 34-year-old Hazlewood had reported tightness in his right hamstring but was cleared of injury following the precautionary scans, and will practice as planned leading into the first test.

The Nov. 21-25 Perth match will be followed by a day-night test at the Gabba in Brisbane starting Dec. 4, then the series moves to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Cities around the world welcome 2026 with thunderous fireworks and heightened security

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — From Paris to Dubai to Sydney, crowds began ringing in the new year with exuberant celebrations filled with thunderous fireworks or jet skis, while others took a more subdued approach.

A countdown to midnight was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and Russians celebrated in snowy Moscow. In Japan, temple bells rang and some climbed mountains to see the year's first sunrise and a light show with somersaulting jet skis twinkled in Dubai.

Other events were more subdued. Hong Kong held limited celebrations following a recent fire at an apartment complex that killed 161 people. Australia saluted the new year with defiance less than a month after its worst mass shooting in almost 30 years.

A heavy police presence monitored crowds watching fireworks in Sydney. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, a first for the event, after two gunmen targeted a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing 15.

An hour before midnight, victims were commemorated with a minute of silence, and the crowd was invited to show solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns had urged residents not to stay away from festivities, saying extremists would interpret smaller crowds as a victory: “We have to show defiance in the face of this terrible crime."

Indonesia scaled back festivities in solidarity with communities devastated by floods and landslides in parts of Sumatra a month ago that killed over 1,100. Fireworks on the tourist island of Bali were replaced with traditional dances.

Hong Kong rang in 2026 without fireworks over Victoria Harbor after the massive fire in November. Facades of landmarks were turned into countdown clocks and a light show at midnight.

And in Gaza, Palestinians said they hope the new year brings an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “The war humiliated us,” said Mirvat Abed Al-Aal, displaced from the southern city of Rafah.

Pope Leo XIV closed out the year with a plea for the city of Rome to welcome foreigners and the fragile. Fireworks erupted over European landmarks, from the Colosseum in Rome to the London Eye.

In Paris, revelers converged around the glittering Champs-Élysées avenue. Taissiya Girda, a 27-year-old tourist from Kazakhstan, expressed hope for a calmer 2026.

“I would like to see happy people around me, no war anywhere,” she said. “Russia, Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, I want everybody to be happy and in peace."

In Scotland, where New Year’s is known as Hogmanay, First Minister John Swinney urged Scots to follow the message of “Auld Lang Syne” by national poet Robert Burns and show small acts of kindness.

Greece and Cyprus turned down the volume, replacing traditional fireworks with low-noise pyrotechnics in capitals. Officials said the change is intended to make celebrations more welcoming for children and pets.

Police in New York City planned additional anti-terrorism measures at the Times Square ball drop, with “mobile screening teams.” It was not in response to a specific threat, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

After the ball drops it will rise again, sparkling in red, white and blue, to mark the country’s upcoming 250th birthday. And Zohran Mamdani was taking office as mayor following a private ceremonial event around midnight in an old subway station.

Saaliq reported from New Delhi, India. Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.