The rugby league Ashes return for the first time in 22 years and England head coach Shaun Wane cut no corners in who he arranged for shirt presentations with England cricket captain Ben Stokes, a man familiar with the Ashes, doing the job.

Stokes, a former BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner, will take his England side down under to Australia in a bid to win the Ashes this winter. The England captain is one of the best all-rounders of his generation and has been recognised as the best in the world across numerous years, whilst also being part of the 2019 World Cup win.

Whilst the wait for the rugby league Ashes to return has been a long one, since 2003, the wait for an England win in the cricket has also hit one decade with the 2015 series the last that England won.

That pales in comparison to the wait for a rugby league Ashes win the last one for England or Great Britain coming in 1970 but with both sports seeking massive wins this year, they’ve now collided with Ben Stokes presenting Shaun Wane’s side with their shirts.

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Shirt presentations for big games are big moments with inspiring figures often recruited in to speak to the players and then present them with their shirts.

Wigan brought in Sir Alex Ferguson ahead of the 2024 Super League Grand Final whilst Roy Keane was used in 2025.

Shaun Wane spoke earlier in the week to confirm that the shirt presentations would be done by someone who would gee up the team and Stokes would have undoubtedly done that.

Not only did he turn up just to present the shirts, Stokes also ate with the team and spent over three hours in and amongst the England players as they got a feel for what it meant to take on the Aussies.

Shaun Wane’s side are huge underdogs for the series but also this opening Test at Wembley with Australia favoured to win by over 14 points by the bookmakers.

Owen Trout is expected to debut whilst it’s been confirmed that Mikey Lewis will partner George Williams in the halves in a brave move by Shaun Wane, leaving Harry Smith out of a side for the first time since the 2022 World Cup.

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Credit: England Rugby League