Test Match Special

Kate Cross and Alex Hartley lift the cricketing mood by bringing you some festive cheer, interluded with a little bit of Ashes chat as England lose the series with two games still to play. Plus, can they guess which of Santa's elves have been spotted in Australia?

Eleanor Oldroyd is alongside Jonathan Agnew and Stephan Shemilt in the TMS commentary box at the MCG ahead of the Boxing Day Ashes Test. England captain Ben Stokes speaks to Jonathan Agnew about the reports of the squad’s conduct in their trip to Noosa. They discuss the perception of the squad and what Stokes has to deal with as captain of the side. Plus, they talk about Jacob Bethell playing in his first Ashes Test and Jofra Archer being ruled out for the rest of the tour.

Phil Tufnell, Jason Gillespie and Dawid Malan join Mark Chapman to reflect on England losing the Ashes in Adelaide after the Third Test. Are England professional enough? Does the English game value county cricket enough? And did they pick the right spinner?

Rob Key discusses preparation, performance and the trip to Noosa as the fallout of the Ashes defeat begins. Plus, we talk through it all with Stephan Shemilt and George Dobell.

Every weekday during the 2025-26 Ashes, comedian and statistician Andy Zaltzman poses new a cricketing conundrum. It won’t be easy though. You might want to take it away, share in your group chats and challenge your friends. Andy will reveal the answer the following day.Test Match Special has live commentary on BBC Sounds with a team including Jonathan Agnew, Simon Mann and Jim Maxwell. England's 2005 Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan, legendary Australia seamer Glenn McGrath and ex-England spinners Phil Tufnell and Alex Hartley will be part of the punditry team.