Cricket: No Ashes 2027 Tests to take place in the north of England

England and Australia will not play Tests in the north of England after Old Trafford and Headingley not chosen to host.There will be no Ashes matches in the north of England next year, when Australia arrive for Test cricket’s oldest rivalry.Headingley in Leeds and Manchester’s Old Trafford have both staged some of the most dramatic clashes in the long history of Ashes cricket.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4What next after World Cup? Club football transfer window takes centre stagelist 2 of 4Where will LeBron James go next? NBA star ‘not rushed’ to make a decisionlist 3 of 4Goats of football: Indian village holds tournament with an indigenous twistlist 4 of 4FIFA World Cup final draws record viewership in United Statesend of listDon Bradman, arguably cricket’s greatest batsman, scored two triple centuries at Headingley in the 1930s.Both grounds played host to remarkable individual feats by England hero Ian Botham during the 1981 Ashes series.Headingley was also the venue for a remarkable unbeaten century by England’s Ben Stokes in a one-wicket win during the 2019 series.England’s Ben Stokes celebrates as they win the third Test against Australia, in Headingley, Leeds, in August 2019 [Andrew Boyers/Action Images via Reuters]But both venues have been left off the schedule for the 2027 Ashes – a decision criticised by new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, then the mayor of Greater Manchester – when it was announced in 2023.The England-and-wales-cricket-board" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="117337" data-entity-type="organization">England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed on Thursday the exact fixture list for next year’s Ashes, with all five matches limited to the Midlands and south of England.Hampshire’s Rose Bowl, near Southampton, will stage its first Ashes Test from July 21 – the fourth of the series.It will become the 10th ground in the United Kingdom to stage a men’s Ashes Test.Lord’s recently hosted its first-ever women’s Test, as India defeated England [File: Peter Cziborra/Reuters]The series will start at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on June 18, with Lord’s – as is traditional – staging the second Test on June 30 and Edgbaston in Birmingham the third on July 8.