This year's men's Ashes may not start until November, but three matches take place over the next few weeks that will help whet the appetite. The Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions live stream of their 1st tour match starts on Tuesday, January 14 and you can find global daily start times further down this page.
You can watch Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions for FREE on YouTube. Can't access the streaming platform where you are? Watch AUS vs ENG live streams from anywhere with a VPN.
The England Lions — effectively England cricket's second XI — play twice against a Cricket Australia XI before coming up against Australia A. All three games are four-day red ball encounters.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Lions tour is a potential chance to see the 16-year-old Rocky Flintoff in England colors for the first time. Son of legendary Freddie Flintoff, the young gun impressed last summer for Lancashire. A full debut is surely still some years away, but fans will be eager to see whether Rocky's aesthetic similarities to his father extend to his ability to vanquish the Aussies.
For both sides, these matches are a chance for players to impress selection panels of the senior squads. It only takes a couple of injuries or a dip in form of the current Test team incumbents to have their places at risk — some impressive performances in Brisbane and the likes of Peter Handscomb, Sam Cook or Josh Tongue could be knocking the door down for an Ashes berth.
Running concurrently with the women's Ashes Down Under, it's always worth watching Australia play England when they meet in the middle. Discover all the information you need below to get an Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions live stream and watch cricket online from anywhere in the world today.
How to watch Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions for free
You'll be able to watch every minute of the two games between Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions for free on the Cricket Australia YouTube channel.
The daily start time for both matches is at 10 am QLD in Brisbane, which is 11 am AEDT / 12 am (midnight) GMT. That's 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT on the preceding day.
Visiting somewhere where YouTube is blocked? Not to worry, because you can still watch Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions by using a VPN — we recommend NordVPN.
Can I watch Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions on TV?
The two matches between Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions won't be shown on traditional linear TV, so you'll have to watch online via YouTube as explained above.
As well as computers and smartphones, you can stream YouTube on pretty much every TV streaming device and Smart TV available.
How to watch Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions from anywhere with a VPN
YouTube isn't available everywhere. So if you run into problems due to your location, perhaps you're traveling for work or holiday, you can solve this issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
A VPN lets you change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune into live cricket or other content even if a streaming service is blocked where you are. Our favorite is NordVPN, which is the no. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
- Download the app at NordVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
When does the Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions 1st tour match begin?
The 1st four-day match between Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions starts on Tuesday, January 14. Each day of play starts at 10 am QLD local time, which is 11 am AEDT or 12 am GMT.
If you're in the US, note that the match starts the day before the scheduled date. So that's Monday, January 13, with play starting at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT each day.
What are the dates for the England Lions tour of Australia in 2025?
- 1st match vs Cricket Australia XI: January 14-17 — Ian Healy Oval, Brisbane
- 2nd match vs Cricket Australia XI: January 22-25 — Allan Border Field, Brisbane
- vs Australia A: Jan 30 - Feb 2 — Cricket Central, Sydney
All you need to know about Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions
What are the Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions squads?
Cricket Australia: Charlie Anderson, Gabe Bell, Hugo Burdon, Jack Clayton, Sam Elliott, Cameron Gannon, Jayden Goodwin, Peter Handscomb, Lachie Hearne, Ryan Hicks, Henry Hunt, Rafael MacMillan, Corey Rocchiccioli, Jem Ryan, Tim Ward, Tom Whitney
England Lions: Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Pat Brown, James Coles, Sam Cook, Alex Davies, Rocky Flintoff, Tom Lawes, Freddie McCann, Ben McKinney, James Rew, Hamza Shaikh, Mitch Stanley, Josh Tongue, John Turner
Who is Rocky Flintoff?
Rocky Flintoff is a 16-year-old professional cricketer and son of England cricket legend Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff.
Born in 2008 (three years after his father's finest hour in the famous 2005 Ashes victory), Rocky made his first class debut for Lancashire CCC in 2024 after becoming the youngest player in the county's history to score a century for the 2nd XI.
He represented England U19s against Sri Lanka in June, and was called up by his dad Freddie — the recently appointed head coach — to the England Lions.
What is the Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions 1st match venue?
The first Cricket Australia XI vs England Lions match is taking place at the Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane.
Named for Australia's most capped Test wicketkeeper, the outground established in 2021 has never hosted a first class cricket fixture.
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