Ahead of the Ashes 2025-26, former England captain Michael Vaughan reckons Ben Stokes and England “need a trophy” to cement their legacy as one of England’s greatest units.
Vaughan further opined that a 2-2 draw result in the upcoming series down under would be good, given England’s terrible record in Australia on their last three tours. However, he added, Stokes, with his “mentality,” will be looking to win the series, something England have not done for the last dozen years on Australian soil.
Australia have been holding the Ashes urn since their 4-0 series win at home in 2017/18. Since then, both of the Ashes series in England, in 2019 and 2023, were drawn 2-2, while Australia won the 2021/22 Ashes at home again by 4-0.
England’s last Ashes series win in Australia came in 2011/12, when Andrew Strauss led the Three Lions to a 3-1 victory. Since then, England were blanked 5-0 in 2013/14 and 4-0 each on their next two tours.
Now, though, Ben Stokes’ team are believed to be strong contenders—especially now with Pat Cummins injured—to repeat the feat of Strauss’ history-making side that also won a Test series in India.
“I Think They Need a Trophy”: Michael Vaughan on Ben Stokes and England
Under Stokes’s captaincy, with Brendon McCullum by his side as the coach, England have won 22 out of 36 Tests, a massively positive result from the one win in the last 17 Tests of Joe Root’s captaincy. However, they have failed to beat either India or Australia in a series: England lost 4-1 in India in 2024 and drew 2-2 against Australia in 2023 and India in 2025 at home.
“I think they need a trophy,” Vaughan said while speaking at a Viagogo event.
The 2005 Ashes-winning skipper added, “If you could get a two-all series, you’d obviously take that. But I think Ben and his mentality, and the way that he plays his cricket, this is his moment. He has to deliver and he has to get that urn in his hand. And it’s not putting him under pressure. They’ll be speaking in this kind of language in the dressing room. They will expect to win this series and now’s the time to deliver.”
Vaughan warns Stokes to be wary of bowlers’ plans
England are bringing a cartel of tall, hit-the-deck pacers with different skill sets comprising Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, and Gus Atkinson.
However, Michael Vaughan wants England to be wary of getting carried over by their express pacers, while he believes wickets on Australian pitches will come through bowlers who can hit the top of the stumps consistently. Indeed, amid the pool of fast bowlers England have picked, Vaughan feels Ben Stokes is best equipped to bowl the perfect lengths.
“I guess Ben’s the one bowler that you can just go, okay, you go back to top of off. It’s the one concern I have about the England attack that I’m thinking, who’s going to continuously hit the top of off if the ball’s wobbling around? Pace, yes, but it might be a series where the top of off stump is the area to go for,” the former captain asserted.
When will the Ashes 2025-26 start?
This year’s Ashes will kick off on November 21 in Perth.
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