Not Travis Head! 35-Year-Old Star Wins Player Of The Series Award In 2025-26 Ashes

Travis Head played nine out of 10 innings in the 2025-26 Ashes series against England as an opener and, with the help of three centuries, amassed a total of 608 runs. But despite that, the 32-year-old

left-handed batter from Adelaide was ignored for the Player Of The Series award. Instead, the best player of the series was awarded to left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc.

Like Head, Starc also played a big role in Australia’s 4-1 Ashes win. He featured in all five matches and picked up a total of 31 wickets. In addition to his 31 wickets, Starc also scored 156 runs with the bat in seven innings and slammed two half-centuries.

The 35-year-old fast bowler from Sydney picked up 7 wickets for 58 runs in the first innings of the first Test played at Optus Stadium in Perth on November 21 and 22, 2025, and in the next nine innings registered figures of 3/55, 6/75, 2/64, 1/61, 3/62, 2/23, 2/55, 2/93 and 3/72.

Mitchell Starc in 2025-26 Ashes

TEST	DATES	VENUE	BOWLING	BATTING	RESULT
1st Test	November 21-22, 2025	Perth	7/58 & 3/55	12	Australia Won
2nd Test	December 4-7, 2025	Brisbane	6/75 & 2/64	77	Australia Won
3rd Test	December 17-21, 2025	Adelaide	1/61 & 3/62	54 & 7*	Australia Won
4th Test	December 26-27, 2025	Melbourne	2/23 & 2/55	1 & 0	England Won
5th Test	January 4-8, 2026	Sydney	2/93 & 3/72	5	Australia Won

Star finished as the highest wicket-taker in the series and also bagged two Player Of The Match (POTM) awards.

Most wickets in 2025-26 Ashes

PLAYER	COUNTRY	MATCHES	WICKETS	BEST FIGURES	5-WKT HAULS
Mitchell Starc	Australia	5	31	7/58	2
Brydon Carse	England	5	22	4/34	0
Scott Boland	Australia	5	20	4/33	0
Josh Tongue	England	3	18	5/45	1
Michael Neser	Australia	3	15	5/42	1
Ben Stokes	England	5	15	5/23	1
Jofra Archer	England	3	9	5/53	1
Brendan Doggett	Australia	2	7	3/51	0
Pat Cummins	Australia	1	6	3/48	0
Gus Atkinson	England	3	6	2/28	0
Will Jacks	England	4	6	2/105	0

On Thursday, he also equalled Rangana Herath’s record of most wickets in Test history by a left-arm bowler.

Most wickets in Tests by left-arm bowlers

PLAYER	COUNTRY	MATCHES	WICKETS	BEST FIGURES	5-WKT HAULS
Mitchell Starc	Australia	105	433	7/58	18
Rangana Herath	Sri Lanka	93	433	9/127	34
Wasim Akram	Pakistan	104	414	7/119	25
Daniel Vettori	New Zealand	113	362	7/87	20
Chaminda Vaas	Sri Lanka	111	355	7/71	12
Ravindra Jadeja	India	89	348	7/42	15
Trent Boult	New Zealand	78	317	6/30	10
Mitchell Johnson	Australia	73	313	8/61	12
Zaheer Khan	India	92	311	7/87	11
Derek Underwood	England	86	297	8/51	17

Meanwhile, Head won the Player Of The Match award in the fifth Test for his 163-run knock in the first innings. During his stay at the crease in the first innings, Head faced 166 balls and slammed 24 fours and 1 six.

He finished as the highest run-getter in the 2025-26 Ashes. No other Australian batter was even able to score 350 runs in the five-match series.