The Ashes starts in Perth this Friday, November 21, with Australia hosting England for the first of five Tests at Optus Stadium in cricket’s oldest rivalry, with play starting at 10:20am AWST (1:20pm AEST). So what will the weather be like?

The good news is that play should be possible for the vast majority of the five days, although there may be a few spots of rain on Friday and Saturday.

Friday (Day 1): maximum 26°C. An extensive area of low pressure centred over the eastern part of Western Australia will generate instability with the chance of showers across much of southern WA. But Perth’s wettest weather tends to arrive via cold fronts from the southwest, so while Optus Stadium could potentially see a drop or two and even a brief thunderstorm in the afternoon, expect mostly clear skies.

Saturday (Day 2): maximum 24°C. An injection of slightly cooler air will arrive with a few showers possible in the morning followed by a mostly clear afternoon.

Sunday (Day 3): maximum 23°C. A drying trend sets in, with only a very slight chance of a light shower.

Monday (Day 4): maximum 23°C. Relatively cool again and mostly sunny.

Tuesday (Day 5): maximum 24°C. Another dry and relatively cool day for late November.

Image: Daily Forecast on the Weatherzone app.

So in summary, Perth will avoid any of the hot weather which was typical for Test cricket in the city back in the (relatively recent) days when Brisbane always had the first Test in November and the Perth Test was often played in the heat of December.

Even last year when Australia hosted India at Optus Stadium in November, the mercury reached 36.7°C on Day 3 on November 24. There’s no chance of that kind of heat this year.

For those who love statistics (yes YOU, cricket fans!), here are the Perth weather averages for November:

• Average maximum: 26.7°C
• Average minimum: 14.4°C
• Average rainfall: 24.2mm
• Monthly rain days: (0.2mm or more) 5.6

And here is the average rainfall in November for the Australian capital cities. As you can see, Perth is by far the driest.

• Darwin: 142.9mm (12.5 rain days)
• Brisbane: 100.1mm (11.0 rain days)
• Sydney: 84.2mm (11.7 rain days)
• Canberra: 75.6mm (9.1 rain days)
• Melbourne: 59.9mm (11.8 rain days)
• Hobart: 52.8mm (14.1 rain days)
• Adelaide: 31.1mm (7.9 rain days)
• Perth: 24.2mm (5.6 rain days)