The 60,000-seat Optus Stadium will become the eighth Ashes venue in Australia as Perth prepares to launch an Ashes series for the first time since 1982-83.
The highly anticipated ‘West Test’, which starts on November 21, will be the first time England has played a Test at the new ground – located just across the Swan River from its predecessor, the WACA Ground – after strict Covid protocols meant the most recent 2021-2022 Fifth Test took place in Hobart instead.
Still more than two weeks after the first ball, what do we already know about Optus Stadium in its seven years as a test location?
For exclusive stories and all the detailed cricket news you need, subscribe to The Cricket Paper website, digital edition or newspaper from just 14p per day.
History says bat first
It appears that England under Ben Stokes have favored going first due to their ‘have-a-chase’ ethos, especially in home conditions, but the early history at Optus Stadium leans heavily on the bat-first mantra historically favored by Australia on their home field.
Since opening in early 2018, Perth’s sleek new stadium has hosted five Test matches, with all five won by the team that chose to go first, including India, who upset the apple cart by becoming the first visiting side to triumph when they defeated Australia by 295 runs in the first Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
That margin of victory is also a familiar story, with the four previous Tests all requiring a fourth-innings target of more than 450. However, we know that this England team would not shy away from such a challenge.
Stokes has insisted his decisions are based purely on conditions or statistics rather than pre-determined tactics, justified by his bowl-first tendency in the opening Test against India at Headingley – despite the visitors’ dominance on the first day – but then failed in their crushing Edgbaston defeat in the second Test.
However, despite the story, Stokes has chosen to bat first on six of the eight occasions where he has won the toss away from home in Test cricket.
Not since Nasser Hussain’s infamous ‘we’re going to have a bowl’ at the Gabba in 2002-03 has a captain chosen to come on first at the start of an Ashes series Down Under, although whether Stokes calls correctly remains to be seen if he will buck that trend.
Let go of the fast stuff
The pace departments of both sides will play a crucial role in the outcome of the series.
Australia are sweating on the fitness of their captain Pat Cummins, who has been officially ruled out of the first Test, and will rely on the aging Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc to hold the line.
Meanwhile, England have their own durability issues – most notably Mark Wood, who is set to return after more than a year away – but on paper they arrive having successfully assembled their most hostile group of fast bowlers in decades, ready to take on the Aussies head-on.
While it is clearly far too early to make any sort of suggestions around the pitch, Optus Stadium has generally closely mimicked the former WACA Ground, which gained a reputation as one of the fastest and most bouncy wickets in the world.
Debates are rumbling over whether England will select wildcard Will Jacks ahead of frontline spinner Shoaib Bashir, or even opt for an all-pace attack for the first two Tests, which will also reduce the burden on captain Ben Stokes.
The Australian pacers have an advantage
Teams have often run heavy attacks without a specialist slow bowler at the Optus Stadium so far, which is not surprising when spinners have claimed just 10 of the 71 wickets fallen in the previous two Tests.
The Australian pacers have been ahead of their visiting counterparts across the five Tests, averaging 22.97 compared to 31.36 respectively.
Although spin is typically less effective, Australia have benefited from having world-class spinner Nathan Lyon in their ranks, who has a fantastic average of 22.2 at the venue, while overseas spinners average around 100, which could impact England’s selection decision.
The first innings runs were significant, but the November 2024 Test against India showed that there is likely to be plenty in play for the bowlers as 17 wickets fell on a remarkable day one, and the prospect of dealing an early blow to Australia’s somewhat fragile batting unit could yet come to mind.
Josh Hazlewood recently played a starring role in Australia’s seven-wicket win over India in the first ODI at the Optus Stadium, taking 2-20 from seven overs, and was keen to see a similar surface prepared for the Ashes, with the Indian top order finding it a struggle to build any momentum against the new ball.
England were questioned over their decision to rest James Anderson and Stuart Broad for the 2021-22 opener, with a view to maintaining freshness for the Pink Ball Test, while this time it feels more like a case of fighting fire with fire to deliver a crucial early blow.
A crucial opportunity for tourists
England have traditionally started poorly in the Ashes series, with an early defeat Down Under often setting off waves of relentless Australian pressure that are virtually impossible to ride.
However, there are positive signs that England have a real chance of taking a rare 1-0 lead against Australia before they head to the Day-Night Test in Brisbane, where the home side have a formidable pink ball record.
Firstly, this is the first time in over 40 years that the Gabba has not hosted the Ashes opener, where England have a notoriously poor record having lost seven of their previous nine Test matches.
Not that their record is better in Western Australia; they won just once in 1978 and lost their previous eight matches, but at least this is new territory for the England Test side with no baggage from previous struggles, while Australia will still have fresh memories of finishing 104th in their defeat to India last year.
Australia will also be without their talismanic captain Pat Cummins due to injury, and while Scott Boland is a very useful replacement in home conditions, it weakens their batting capabilities significantly in the lower order, which could be decisive, as was evident at Edgbaston in 2023.
Incited tempo cartel
England’s pace cartel will also smell blood to make an early move against an Australian top order under immense pressure to deliver results following their struggles in the Caribbean, with Marnus Labuschagne set to take on an unknown opening role after an impressive run of domestic form.
Hoping not to tempt fate, England are on course to have a full complement of their bowlers available for Perth, with Ben Stokes recovering from a shoulder injury suffered against India in the summer, Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson stepping up their preparations in New Zealand, while Jofra Archer has continued his fine rhythm in white-ball cricket and shown promising signs of robustness.
While many will raise concerns about the form of the key hitters during the recent One-Day International series against the Kiwis, England have a 100% winning record in the first Test of all five tours in the McCullum-Stokes era, and it feels certain that avoiding defeat in Perth will at least go a long way to England’s chances of rewriting the script Down Under.
READ MORE: Key Duels of Ashes 2025: The eternal chess match between Joe Root and Nathan Lyon
#fortress #Perth #store #England #Australia #Ashes #opener