Joe Root’s return to the England captaincy could hardly have gone better at Headingley — an innings-and-103-run demolition of Pakistan inside three days, a seventh straight Test win at the ground, and a match award for Ollie Robinson, who took eight wickets alongside eight for Josh Tongue. Then Root was asked about 2027, and the mood changed.
“It’s a great Test match venue and a surface that provides brilliant Test cricket,” Root said. “We’ve had quite a lot of success on it recently, so it’s a shame we don’t get to play here next year.”
His predecessor was blunter. Ben Stokes, who retired from Test cricket earlier this year, posted a screenshot of Root’s words and added: “Shame is an understatement tbh. Shambolic would be more appropriate.”
Seven wins, and a four-year wait
The numbers behind the complaint are not sentimental. England have won their last seven Tests at Headingley, a run stretching back to 2018 and taking in two of the defining Ashes days of the modern era: Stokes’ unbeaten 135 to win the 2019 Test by one wicket, and the three-wicket chase in 2023 that kept that series alive.
Headingley was left out of the 2027 men’s Ashes schedule, and it will not stage a men’s Test again until 2029. For a captain who was born in Sheffield, learned his cricket at Yorkshire and has scored more Test runs at the ground than anyone currently playing, the arithmetic is uncomfortable — a four-year gap at the venue where his team has been at its most ruthless.
Root, characteristically, stopped short of open revolt. “I would love to play as many games as possible here,” he said, before noting that scheduling is not a player’s business and that he “should probably stay in my lane.” Harry Brook, another Yorkshireman, was more direct: “Slightly disappointed, to be honest. I think we’ve had a hell of a lot of success here in Test match cricket.”
Southampton in, the north squeezed out
The 2027 Ashes will be played at five grounds:
- Trent Bridge, Nottingham — 18-22 June
- Lord’s — 30 June-4 July
- Edgbaston, Birmingham — 8-12 July
- Utilita Bowl, Southampton — 21-25 July
- The Kia Oval — 29 July-2 August
Southampton will stage an Ashes Test for the first time. Nottingham is the northernmost venue on the list, which means neither Headingley nor Old Trafford — Test grounds that have hosted Australia since 1899 and 1884 respectively — will see a ball bowled in the series. It is the second consecutive home Ashes from which both have been excluded.
The allocation is decided by a bidding process, and Hampshire’s successful bid is the direct reason Leeds missed out. Yorkshire chief executive Sanjay Patel, speaking during this Test, said the club had been treated unfairly by its share of international fixtures, pointing out that Headingley also misses out on a Test against India on the next tour. A major Test match is worth millions to a host county; missing both of the game’s most lucrative visitors compounds the problem for a club that has spent recent years rebuilding its finances and its reputation.
Former England batter Mark Butcher called the outcome “bizarre”, adding: “I find it extraordinary that there’ll be no Ashes cricket up in the north of England beyond Trent Bridge next year.” Headingley does get the one-off women’s Ashes Test next summer — a significant fixture, but not the compensation Yorkshire wanted.
What happens next
The 2027 schedule is locked in and will not be revisited; venue contracts and ticket ballots are already in motion. What has shifted is the principle. The ECB has since indicated that either Headingley or Old Trafford will stage a Test in every future home Ashes series, and both appear on the 2031 allocation alongside Lord’s, The Oval and Trent Bridge.
That leaves an awkward four-year window in which England’s most productive Test ground sits idle at the highest level, and a group of senior players — one of them the captain, another the most successful captain in England’s history — willing to say so publicly. Stokes’ choice of word will carry: “shambolic” is the sort of verdict that follows an administrator into every future scheduling meeting.
England, meanwhile, move on to Lord’s on 27 August, 1-0 up and with a series to win. Root’s team have taken the only route left to them on this issue — winning at Headingley so emphatically that the absence becomes harder to justify.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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