An ignominious Ashes whitewash may now have been avoided, but there's still plenty of pride to play for between Australia and England Down Under. So if you're keen to see how this series plays out, we'll explain how to get an Ashes live stream from anywhere – including how to watch Australia vs England for free in some places.
Few sporting events drum up national fervor quite like the Ashes, as Australia and England do battle on the cricket pitch over one of the oldest (and smallest) trophies in sport. But after just three matches, the hosts won the series at a canter, having blown a sorry England away in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne.
Joe Root's battered and bruised players looked down and out, but at least managed to salvage a draw in Sydney... just. Ravaged by injuries, can they leave on a high note in Hobart?
Pat Cummins' Australia, on the other hand, have look surprisingly galvanized. Even when their skipper and Josh Hazelwood have had to miss out, their strength in depth has shone through. And they now boast the world's best-rated Test batsman, after Marnus Labuschagne's performances have helped him leapfrog - yep, you guessed it - Joe Root at the top.
It's one of sport's great soap operas, so follow our guide for all you need to know to watch a 2021-22 Ashes live stream no matter where you are - and, perhaps best of all, fans in Australia can watch the Ashes free on TV on Channel 7 . Kayo Sports is how to watch the Ashes online and on your mobile wherever you are.
Keep reading for all the information you need, including details of the Test dates and schedule, the sides' teams and other key narrative around the series.
How to watch the Ashes FREE: live stream in Australia
How to watch an Ashes live stream in the UK
How to watch Ashes from outside your country
Below we've got you covered with your official broadcasting options for major cricket loving countries (and the US!), but if you're outside your country of residence and try to start streaming Ashes cricket via your local broadcaster, you'll soon discover that you can't, as it's location restricted. But there is a way to tune in regardless.
By downloading and installing a VPN , you can effectively trick your computer into thinking that it's back at home. That way you can enjoy your home coverage without having to find an illegal stream - assuming you comply with the broadcaster's fine print, of course - specifically its terms and conditions.
Use a VPN to live stream Ashes cricket from anywhere
Using a VPN is as easy as one-two-three...
1. Download and install a VPN - as we say, our top choice is ExpressVPN
2. Connect to the appropriate server location - open the VPN app, hit 'choose location' and select the appropriate location
3. Go to the broadcaster's stream - head to your home broadcaster's site or app and watch as if you were at home - so that's Kayo Sports for Aussies .
2021-22 Ashes schedule: Test dates and times
How to live stream 2021-22 Ashes in New Zealand
Ashes live stream: how to watch Australia vs England Test cricket in India
Ashes cricket live stream: where to watch Australia vs England in the US (and Canada)
Where will the 2021-22 Ashes be played?
The 2021-22 Ashes are being played in Australia, with each of the five Tests being played at a different venue.
The Gabba in Brisbane hosts the opening Test, before play moves west to the Adelaide Oval, then east to the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney Cricket Ground, after which Perth Stadium will host the fifth, and potentially decisive Test.
2021-22 Ashes squads: Australia
Pat Cummins (c), Alex Carey. Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Steve Smith, David Warner
2021-22 Ashes squads: England
Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Who won the Ashes last time?
For only the sixth time ever, the Ashes ended in a draw the last time the series was played, which was in 2019.
Australia won the first and fourth Tests, and England took victory in the third and fifth Tests, while the rain-disrupted second ended in a draw.
That means Australia, who entered that series as the holders, having been victorious in the previous edition, retained the Ashes for just the second time this century.
Is the Ashes every two years?
The Ashes are contested roughly once every two years, 71 series having been played since its inception in 1882.
Australia have the upper hand, having won 33 Ashes series outright to England's 32.
Six series have ended with the honours even, with Australia retaining the trophy on five of those occasions.
The Test results are far less evenly split, Australia having won 136 to England's 108, and 91 ending in a draw.
Why is it called the Ashes?
The Ashes founding myth is one of the most famous in all of sport.
It started with Australia dishing out England's first ever defeat on English soil in August '82, a low-scoring affair that provoked hysteria from local media outlets. Some things never change.
A multitude of mock obituaries for English cricket were published, but it was the elegy penned by The Sporting Times' Reginald Shirley Brooks in early September, which gave birth to the concept:
In Affectionate Remembrance
of
ENGLISH CRICKET,
which died at the Oval
on
29 August 1882,
Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing
friends and acquaintances
R.I.P.
N.B.—The body will be cremated and the
ashes taken to Australia.
Weeks later, England captain Ivo Bligh pledged to "recover those Ashes" during the team's subsequent 1882-83 tour of Australia. His quest was successful, and the story goes that Bligh was presented with a tiny urn containing the ashes of a burned bail.
The urn is now on display at Lord's Cricket Ground, with a symbolic terracotta replica awarded to the winning team instead.
Why is the 2005 Ashes so famous?
England's victory in 2005 ended the longest winning streak in Ashes history, a 17-year era of Australian dominance during which England won just seven Tests, compared to Australia's 28.
The series is, therefore, celebrated as a classic within English circles, the two-run winning margin in the second Test - the smallest in Ashes history - evening up the scores after Australia comfortably took the opener, and spurring England to their first Ashes triumph since 1987, and their first on home soil since '85.
There's something weird going on with LG's virtual influencer
OK, I might run TechRadar but that doesn't mean I can get away with writing whatever I want, whenever I want - but there's something weird happening with LG's virtual influencer and I just need to talk about it.
A quick overview: in mid-2020, LG brought Reah Keem, a virtual influencer, 'to life' on Instagram , and used her to present part of its CES 2021 conference. It was a big deal... mostly because nobody knew why LG was doing this.
Was it to create a 'physical' embodiment of the faceless voice assistants? Was it to take a slice of the $10m pie that some virtual influencers are raking in? Was it just an over-exuberant marketing machine?
My interest was piqued at CES 2022 , where LG announced that Reah Keem - who, lest we forget, is a DJ and songwriter with her own SoundCloud and everything despite not actually having a heartbeat - will release her first album.
I wrote about her album deal 'news' back then , and even as I was writing it felt like a poor use of time - does anybody care that LG is creating a virtual influencer?
Sure, there is a trend here - what about Shudu Gram , originally 'launched' as real but turning out to be synthetic... and yet still, after that, appeared in Korean Vogue?
Or, and this is the big one, Miquela, AKA LilMiquela , who has amassed 3,100,000 followers and can reportedly charge $8,000 for a single Insta post - and is on course to rack up $10,000,000 in a year for her 'makers', Los Angeles-based startup Brud .
Virtual influencers are a thing now - which really messes with your head in terms of the definition of what an influencer actually is.
If Reah does become the face of a forthcoming LG voice assistant (as hinted at in LG's OmniPod concept ) then making her famous, getting an Instagram and SoundCloud following does make sense, I suppose... but her appearance in said concept was as a cartoon version of her. I don't know what's happening.
Get on with it
Right, I've not even got to the weird bit yet: LG has been erasing elements of Reah Keem's social media, as if trying to cover up her saying something that would be later used against her.
Clearly that's not the case - I looked through all her Insta posts last week (then realized, again, that I was supposed to be doing 'proper work') and what I found was a weird thread of 'finding her voice', which culminated in her posting both a wonderful #pissedatdevelopers hashtag when they hadn't 'found her voice' and also the one where she unveils her new tones and invites comments.
But now, everything posted after August 2020 has been deleted. Suspicious.
Why is LG doing this? Could it be that the new album deal she's inked with Mystic Story has forced LG to redact the previous voice she 'found'?
“Singing about universal themes such as love, acceptance, and unity is what I want to focus on,” said Reah. Wait, no... wrote someone in marketing and then pretended that it was a 3D model that said it.
“In the near future, I’d love to work with various artists in fashion and visual arts to broaden the style of content for my fans to enjoy. The opportunities as a virtual artist are endless.”
I've contacted LG to find out why this might be happening. I have to stop this now - I have actual other work to do beyond satisfying my curiosity about a bunch of pixels and whether she might have become sentient enough to delete her own Insta posts.
How to watch The Gilded Age online where you are
Old money raises an elegant, elbow-length gloved hand around the brazen throat of new money in Julian Fellowes' hotly anticipated historical drama set in late 19th century New York City. Featuring an all-star cast led by Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon, read on to find out how to watch The Gilded Age online wherever you are in the world.
After the death of her father, small-town girl Marian Brook moves to new York and steps into a tempest, her snooty socialite aunt, Agnes, standing at odds with the cruel George and Bertha Russell, the ultra-wealthy new kids on the block.
The Gilded Age was a period of immense opportunity and colossal greed, which both literally and figuratively laid down the foundations of the modern Big Apple.
Written by Downton Abbey creator Fellowes, the show charts the social war between the land-owning aristocracy and a younger generation of money - and power-driven industrialists, which plays out through much curtain-twitching, raising of eyebrows, and hushed sniping behind closed doors.
Which path to fortune will Marian take? Read on as we detail how to watch The Gilded Age online where you are.
How to watch The Gilded Age online in the US with or without cable
What else can you watch on HBO Max
Apart from The Gilded Age, HBO Max gives access to a huge library of top-drawer entertainment, including And Just Like That , the entirety of Sex and the City , Succession , Girls, Mare of Easttown, and much more.
The 7-day HBO Max free trial has long since been discontinued. But, if you're a current HBO Now subscriber or pay for HBO through your cable provider, you might actually be entitled to HBO Max at no extra cost.
Devices compatible with HBO Max include iPhone and Android devices, Apple and Samsung TVs, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, Chromecast and Chromebooks , and laptops and PCS. HBO Max on Roku and Amazon Fire Stick is also available.
How to watch The Gilded Age online in the UK
How to watch The Gilded Age FREE in Canada
Can you watch The Gilded Age in Australia?
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