The Aussies also named a 14-player group for the first two T20I matches against India, with Nathan Ellis and Josh Inglis earning recalls after they missed the recent T20I series with South Africa.
All-rounder Cameron Green will miss the three-match ODI series against India due to side soreness.
England have not won the Ashes in Australia after losing the first Test since the 1950s but McCullum and Stokes will remain convinced they can turn the series around, just as they did against South Africa in 2022 when they won 2-1 after losing the opener at Lord's.
Pat Cummins took 10 wickets to lead Australia to Pakistan series triumph
Only three England captains have secured the urn in Australia in the last 50 years, with Andrew Strauss the last in 2010/11.
All-rounder Max Maxwell, who has been sidelined by a wrist injury, will come in for the last three games, while Test certainty Josh Hazlewood will skip the last three games.
KKR's most successful leader Gautam Gambhir is back in his second innings as a mentor. His partnership with head coach Chandrakant Pandit, a shrewd tactician in domestic circuit, will be the key to their revival.
The contest between England's dialled-down "Bazball" approach and Australia's more methodical batting could determine who prevails in the Ashes series beginning in Perth on Friday.
Probably the pitch is playing on Australians' mind before the big match.
Mitchell Starc and Ben Stokes set the scene for a dramatic Ashes series.
Expect nothing less than hostility, fire and close contests as Ben Stokes' England come armed with their Bazball philosophy to try and get the better of a depleted Australia.
England's Ashes hopes rest largely on the all-round performance of talismanic captain Ben Stokes, who took 17 wickets against India in the recent home series.
England 'quietly confident' heading into Ashes series, says Wood
Making a comeback to international cricket after a seven-month gap, Virat Kohli has perished for ducks in the first two ODIs against Australia.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting described Aussies skipper Pat Cummins' captaincy as "old-fashioned" as he set fields and unravel plans over a long period of time.
The report also claimed that if India make the final in Ahmedabad, a slow pitch is expected at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera.
Smith dislocated his right little finger in last month's World Test Championship final and will be required to wear a splint for five weeks, Cricket Australia said.
Australia coach McDonald dismisses 'far-fetched' Cummins resignation talk
Nitish flaunted his six-hitting muscle in the first innings and showed signs of living up to the belief that the former Indian skipper has exuded in him. After being put to bat by Australia, rain interrupted the play on four instances, and the Indian team toiled for rhythm as well as runs.
Australian batting has not clicked as a unit so far in the World Cup, and captain Pat Cummins hoped that his batters will fire on all cylinders against Pakistan in Bengaluru on Friday.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction saw some foreign names earning big bucks, headlined by Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green
Kasprowicz recalls being thanked "for saving Test cricket" for his Ashes 2005 Birmingham dismissal
'I'm really excited ... for next year to try to get some games before that World Cup and push a case to not only make the side but to get back to how I feel like I can bowl in T20 cricket.'
'As a captain it makes my life a lot easier knowing you've got lots of settled players there.'
The aura of home advantage -- long regarded as a hallmark of India's Test side -- seemed secure. But in barely over a year, that fortress has not just cracked, it has collapsed, raising uncomfortable questions about strategy, selection, and temperament.
Returning to the bowling crease would mark the final stage of Green's carefully looked-after return to cricket after a spinal fusion operation in Christchurch.
Former No. 1-ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne will be pushed up in the order to open alongside Usman Khawaja.
SRH finished last in 2023, but Pat Cummins, who was roped in for a whopping Rs 20.50 crore, scripted a sensational turnaround for the franchise, taking the team to the final with a 36-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 in Chennai on Friday.
The 3rd Test match in Kingston, Jamaica, will mark Australia's first day-night Test away from home and if they opt for a pace-heavy attack, Scott Boland could come into the side.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 1st Ashes Test in Perth on Saturday.
Virat Kohli, 36, and Rohit Sharma, 38, are active internationally only in the 50-overs format but their future beyond the three-match series is uncertain.
Pat Cummins wants to experience that awesome feeling of leading a great bunch of blokes
Australia's stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh continued his fine run of form on Sunday, scoring 46 not out and leading his side to a seven-wicket triumph over India in the weather-affected first one-day international at Perth Stadium.
Pat Cummins tore through South Africa before a Proteas fightback left the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 on a knife-edge at the end of an absorbing second day at Lord's.
Formidable India have their tails up as they head to the gargantuan MCG for the second T20I against Australia here on Friday, thanks to the influx of young talent and the return to form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia took the upper hand in the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's, ending day two on 144-8 in their second innings with a lead of 218 runs after wickets tumbled freely again on Thursday.
Cummins, who fractured his wrist during the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval (July 27-31), has been advised rest for six weeks.
ICC rejected Khawaja's application to have a sticker showing a black dove holding an olive branch on his bat and shoes during the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.
Mitchell Marsh is expected to lead in Cummins's absence. The all-rounder is also in contention to be named Australia's T20 skipper.
Glenn Maxwell was ruled out of the three-match T20 series against New Zealand with a fractured wrist after being hit in the nets.
