They play The Ashes roughly every two years, in long Test series that alternate between being hosted in England and in Australia.

Quick Scoop

  • The Ashes is a Test cricket series between England and Australia, usually made up of five matches.
  • It is a biennial event, meaning it’s generally scheduled every two years rather than every season.
  • Hosting duties swap each time: one series in England, the next in Australia, and so on.

Why “every two years” isn’t exact

  • Because England’s home summer is in the middle of the year and Australia’s is around the turn of the year, gaps can be about 18 to 30 months rather than a perfect 24.
  • These tweaks help the series fit around World Cups and other international tours, so schedules sometimes shift slightly.

What “playing the Ashes” actually means

  • Each Ashes contest is a full Test series , not a single match, and it usually stretches over around two months of cricket.
  • The teams fight for the tiny but famous Ashes urn, which symbolically represents the “ashes” of English cricket after an 1882 defeat to Australia.

In forum and fan discussions, when people ask “how often do they play the Ashes,” they almost always mean this two‑year Test series cycle between England and Australia.

TL;DR: They play the Ashes about once every two years, swapping host country each time, with the exact gap sometimes a bit shorter or longer due to the international cricket calendar.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.