Kerry O’Keeffe picks no English player in Combined XI of Ashes 2025-26

Former Australian cricketer Kerry O’Keeffe has sparked debate online after naming his combined Ashes 2025-26 XI, with the entire line-up consisting only Australia players, completely leaving out England players, including Joe Root.

Australia wrapped up the Ashes with a thumping 4–1 series win over England, despite not having stalwarts like Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and Nathan Lyon available for most of the series. The five-wicket win at the Sydney Cricket Ground gave Australia a convincing series win, with Mitchell Starc named Player of the Series for picking up 31 wickets.

When asked to pick an Ashes combined XI, traditionally a team made up of the best performing players from the series, the former Australian spinner, hilariously, opted to select only Aussie players in the XI.

Kerry O'Keeffe's Combined XI of Ashes 2025-26: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Mitchell Starc, Michael Neser, and Scott Boland.

Check Kerry O'Keeffe's Ashes XI here

The cricketer-turned broadcaster defended his XI and stated that the team he has picked is purely based on performance and data. He further added that he did not try to balance the team between the two sides, and simply picked the best XI.

“I just looked at all the stats. That's the best team. I don't do combinations. I don't do amalgamations. Look at the failure rate — North Melbourne-Fitzroy... that worked!” he told via Fox Cricket. 

Joe Root, Brydon Carse miss out

Whether Kerry O’Keeffe picked this XI in sarcasm or he really thinks this is the best XI of the Ashes 2025-26, remains unknown, but some England players had a strong claim for the selection in the combined XI. 

England's leading scorer Root had a good outing Down Under, amassing exactly 400 runs across five games, at an average of 44.44. He also scored two tons in this series, ending his century drought in Australia. Apart from Root, Brydon Carse, who finished the series with 22 wickets to his name, also deserves a mention in the combined XI.