Ashes 2017-18: Australia Win 4-0 — Smith 687 Runs Compton-Miller Medal, Cummins 23 Wickets, Cook 244* MCG, First-Ever Day-Night Ashes at Adelaide, Ben Stokes Absent
Australia won the 2017-18 Ashes 4-0 (1 draw at Melbourne). Steve Smith won the Compton-Miller Medal: 687 runs at 137.40 including 3 centuries. Pat Cummins led the wickets with 23. The 2nd Test at Adelaide was the first-ever Day-Night Ashes Test. Alastair Cook scored 244* at Melbourne (carrying the bat, highest score by a batter carrying the bat in Test history at the time). Ben Stokes did not play — excluded from the squad following a Bristol nightclub incident in September 2017. Steve Smith captained Australia; Joe Root captained England.
Australia won the 2017-18 Ashes 4-0 (5 Tests, 1 draw — Melbourne). 1st Test Gabba, Brisbane (Nov 23-27): AUS won 10 wickets — ENG 302 & 195; AUS 328 & 173/0. 2nd Test Adelaide Oval, Day-Night (Dec 2-6): AUS won 120 runs — AUS 442/8d & 138; ENG 227 & 233. First-ever Day-Night Ashes Test. 3rd Test WACA, Perth (Dec 14-18): AUS won innings + 41 runs — ENG 403 & 218; AUS 662/9d. 4th Test MCG, Melbourne, Boxing Day (Dec 26-30): Draw — AUS 327 & 263/4d; ENG 491. Cook 244* (carrying the bat; highest score by a batter carrying the bat in Tests at the time); Warner 103. 5th Test SCG, Sydney (Jan 4-8): AUS won innings + 123 runs — ENG 346 & 180; AUS 649/7d. Khawaja 171, Shaun Marsh 156, Mitchell Marsh 101 — three AUS centuries in first innings. Cummins 4/80 + 4/39 (PoM). Player of Series (Compton-Miller Medal): Steve Smith — 687 runs at 137.40, 3 centuries. Australia's leading wicket-taker: Pat Cummins 23 wickets; Starc 22; Hazlewood 21; Lyon 21. Ben Stokes absent for the entire tour (excluded from squad after Bristol incident, September 2017). Steve Smith captained Australia; Joe Root captained England.
Smith 687 Runs at 137.40: The Compton-Miller Medal Performance That Defined the Series
Steve Smith scoring 687 series runs at an average of 137.40 — three centuries across the 2017-18 Ashes, with England's bowling (Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Craig Overton, Moeen Ali) unable to dismiss Smith cheaply in either innings across the bilateral's five Tests — gave the Compton-Miller Medal to Australia's bilateral batting individual whose run accumulation across the Gabba, Adelaide, WACA, MCG, and SCG confirmed the bilateral dominance that Australia's 4-0 result reflected. Smith's 687 at 137.40 across 10 innings — the Ashes bilateral average that confirmed his home conditions advantage (WACA and SCG surfaces giving Smith's bottom-handed pull technique the bounce he exploited) — confirmed that Australia's bilateral win was built on Smith's batting foundation combined with the four-bowler attack (Cummins 23, Starc 22, Hazlewood 21, Lyon 21) whose bilateral wicket-taking collective produced England's two-innings dismissals across four winning Tests.
Cummins 23 Wickets, Adelaide Day-Night, and Cook 244* at Melbourne
Pat Cummins leading Australia's bowling with 23 bilateral wickets (ahead of Starc's 22, Hazlewood's 21, and Lyon's 21 — all four frontline bowlers exceeding 20 wickets in the same Ashes series) gave the 2017-18 bilateral its bowling collective landmark: four bowlers each taking 20+ wickets in a single Ashes series. The 2nd Test at Adelaide Oval — the first-ever Day-Night Ashes Test (played under lights with the pink ball; Adelaide having pioneered the day-night Test format since 2015) producing Australia's 120-run win (AUS 442/8d & 138; ENG 227 & 233) — gave the bilateral its format landmark. Alastair Cook scoring 244* at the MCG Boxing Day Test (carrying the bat — England all out for 491 while Cook batted the entire innings, 244 not out from England's 491 total, the highest score by a batter carrying the bat in Test history at the time) gave the drawn Melbourne Test (AUS 327 & 263/4d; ENG 491; Australia unable to bowl England out in the match time remaining) its bilateral batting landmark: Cook's innings of resistance in a drawn Test within an otherwise dominant Australian bilateral victory.
Ashes 2017-18 in Context
The 2017-18 Ashes — Australia winning 4-0 (Smith 687 runs Compton-Miller at 137.40; Cummins 23 bilateral wickets; first Day-Night Ashes Adelaide; Cook 244* MCG; three AUS centuries at Sydney; Stokes absent) — confirmed Australia's home Ashes bilateral strength under Smith's captaincy (Smith captaining Australia in his first full Ashes bilateral as captain, Tim Paine not yet having assumed the captaincy) before Smith's subsequent bilateral history: Smith banned for 12 months after the Sandpaper Gate ball-tampering incident in South Africa March 2018, returning to Test cricket in 2019 (Ashes in England, where he scored 774 bilateral runs despite being hit by Jofra Archer's bouncer; England won 2-2 drawn). Australia's 2017-18 home Ashes bilateral continued their home bilateral dominance against England that the 2013-14 Ashes (Australia 5-0) and subsequent bilaterals had established before England's Bazball Ashes bilateral results (England's drawn 2-2 in 2023 and Australia's 4-0 in 2021-22) redefined.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the 2017-18 Ashes?
Australia won the 2017-18 Ashes 4-0 (1 draw at Melbourne). Steve Smith won the Compton-Miller Medal: 687 runs at 137.40. Pat Cummins led the wickets with 23 (Starc 22, Hazlewood 21, Lyon 21 — all four took 20+). The Adelaide 2nd Test was the first-ever Day-Night Ashes. Cook scored 244* at Melbourne (carrying the bat). Ben Stokes did not play — excluded after Bristol. Smith captained Australia; Root captained England.