Josh Hazlewood names England’s two key players ahead of Ashes 2025-26

Ahead of the much-awaited Ashes 2025 series, Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood has heaped praise on the England batting unit, stating that they will be setting foot Down Under with one of the exceptional batting line-ups in recent times.

While attending an event to promote Play Cricket Week, Hazlewood has shared a few words of praise for English batters Joe Root and Harry Brook. Notably, Root and Brook are currently occupying the top two spots in the ICC Test batters rankings.

"England has obviously been quite flat wickets recently, the last few years, and it's been a really dry summer as well, so they are probably starting to get tired and spin now," Hazlewood said as quoted by the ICC.

"I think (Harry Brook) will adapt. He's a good player. He's at the top of the rankings for a reason, and he'll be a tough challenge. I think a fresh face like Harry Brook might find it easier. There's no baggage behind him and he can just come out and play with freedom as he does," he added.

Furthermore, Hazlewood also heaped praise on the No.1-ranked Test batter Joe Root, who has been in exceptional form ahead of the much-anticipated Ashes. However, Root is yet to get to his maiden century Down Under in the longest format of the game.

"When (Root) first came out, it was a little bit of a different attack. It was probably (Mitchell) Johnson, (Ryan) Harris, and (Peter) Siddle. Gaz (Nathan Lyon) has been around a long time now, so he was probably there, but we sort of just jumped on the back of that. Joe's probably in the form of his life as well. So they're an unbelievable batting line-up, to be honest. The top seven have done really well...so it's a challenge," he observed. 

Speaking about Root’s numbers in Australia, he has played 14 Tests so far, accumulating 892 runs at an average of 35.68. Interestingly, he made his Test debut in Australia in 2013. The first Ashes 2025-26 Test is scheduled to be played from Friday, November 21, at the Perth Stadium in Perth.

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