Key events
Players are taking the field for the second session of this pink ball Test. Jofra Archer looks full of beans (perhaps, literally) and is pawing at the ground like a wolf watching a rabbit on the horizon. Mind you, so is Jake Weatherald. He has thumped 59 from 56 for his first Test half-century and looks hungry for more. Here we go…
With England reeling and Australia rolling, Stephen Smith is keeping calm rather than carrying on: “We’ve had a horribly traditional first innings 334 with a big score from the big man [the 183cm Joe Root] (his red inker and subsequent 70-odd average soothes me). And now top order runs in reply. Take away the run rate and this just has too much of a feel of an actual Test match. Where’s the flash where’s the pizzazz where’s the chutzpah? Hopefully Jamie Smith emerges after lunch with his hard cricket replaced by an e scooter helmet to get this all back off track.”
Tom Banks isn’t quite as hopeful and asks. “Too late to fly out Jimmy?”
Tea: Australia 130-1 (trailing England by 204 runs)
Advantage Australia.
The home side still trail by over 200-runs but on the evidence of that session they will reach and breach that target before the day is out. England may have edged day one and piled a few more runs onto an entertaining 10th-wicket partnership this morning, but they have dropped their bundle on day two through loose bowling, a dropped catch and abysmal body language.
As Brian Withington writes in from Blighty under the gloomy headline ‘Fill Your Boots’: “The generosity of most of our batters has been surpassed by the bowlers, with a smorgasbord of long hops spiced with the occasional half volley. Bon appetit!”
Joe Root’s unbeaten 138 was magnificent but Australia have erased it in a session. Can the visitors recover their mojo after lunch and give themselves a sniff of squaring the series? Or will Australia pile on the runs and rain down more misery?
Time to grab a bite and wet the whistle. We’ll be back in halfa.
21st over: Australia 130-1 (Weatherald 59, Labuschagne 27) Stokes enters his sixth over with 0-32. He should be working on his lunchtime speech instead. It will need to be Henry V-at-Agincourt-esque to get England up for the second session. They are flatter than the Barmy Army choir right now. The run-rate is 6.19 and rising and both batters are set, stealing singles at will and slapping every loose ball to the rope.
20th over: Australia 125-1 (Weatherald 57, Labuschagne 25) Good change-up, England. Spinner Will Jacks is into the attack. Can he add a little more egg to the face of Australian selectors who left their own spin champion Nathan Lyon out of the XI? Not immediately he cant. First ball beats everyone and runs for four byes. Ouch. Now another FOUR as Weatherald taps a legside drifter to the rope with ease. A cut square yields another single. Jack now delivers a rank full toss and Labuschagne bludgeons it down the ground for yet another boundary.
19th over: Australia 112-1 (Weatherald 52, Labuschagne 21) Since the dismissal of Travis Head, Australia have actually accelerated. This Labuschagne-Weatherald partnership is now worth 32 from as many balls and England look in the doldrums. They have given up 16 boundaries 18 overs and lunch cannot come soon enough. Stokes is trying to lead from the front but this Gabba pitch looks to be flattening.
18th over: Australia 109-1 (Weatherald 50, Labuschagne 20) FOUR more for Weatherald as his hip clip yields an eighth boundary. That is a terrible ball first up from Carse. And now the Tassie tiger doubles the dose, lifting Carse over slips. One bounce, over the fence. Australia’s 100 is up in just the 18th over. And now Jake Weatherald pulls sweetly for his FIRST TEST FIFTY. Well played, young man! That half century came from just 45 balls and featured nine fours and six. Now Labuschagne gets in on the action, pulling another short ball to the rope. And now he DOES IT AGAIN, driving down the ground. That’s 17 from the over!
17th over: Australia 92-1 (Weatherald 41, Labuschagne 12) Weatherald works a single to maintain his strike-rate of 100. He continues to look the part at Test level. Labuschagne is into his 60th Test and now shows why, leaning on a full ball from Stokes and sending it down the ground for FOUR. He takes another two through mid-on to make it eight from the over.
16th over: Australia 84-1 (Weatherald 40, Labuschagne 6) Dangerous leave, Marnie! Carse got that one to duck back and it shaved the off stump. Oohs and Aahs ensue as England bask in the dopamine squirt of Head’s dismissal. That will sober them up a little though. Labuschagne cuts crisply through the slips cordon for FOUR.
15th over: Australia 80-1 (Weatherald 40, Labuschagne 2) Massive bounce for Ben Stokes! And again Labuschagne makes a late decision to shoulder arms and almost comes undone as the ball ricochets off his gloves and narrowly misses the stumps. That’s how Jofra Archer did Marnus in the first innings at Perth. England’s fans are up and about now England have their first, the prized scalp of Travis Head.
14th over: Australia 78-1 (Weatherald 40, Labuschagne 1) Here comes Marnus. After suffering the ignominy of exile as a former No 1 batter in the world, the feisty and eccentric 31-year-old has fought his way back into the baggy green. He showed off a new technique in Perth and carted an unbeaten 51 in the second innings as Head’s wingman to win victory in the first Test. He gets off the mark sharply today.
WICKET! Head c Atkinson b Carse 33 (Australia 77-1)
England strike at last! Carse steamed in with a scrambled seam and put it on leg stump. Head swung for the rafters but skied it and Atkinson pouched the chance. England have their first, Labuschagne enters the fray with Australia trailing by 257.
13th over: Australia 77-0 (Head 33, Weatherald 40) Stokes enters his second over. Head steps out to the first ball and slaps him down the ground for FOUR. England are in disarray here, still shoe-gazing after that dropped catch by Smith off Archer. Australia, by comparison, are playing eyes-up cricket. Now Head gets onto his toes to tonk Stokes away for FOUR through midwicket. Real danger signs for England (and Usman Khawaja) as Australia’s openers light up the Gabba at a 5.92 run-rate.
12th over: Australia 66-0 (Head 22, Weatherald 40) England needed that drinks break. What can they summon after it? Alas, it’s the same slop. Brydon Carse puts the third ball of his second over way short and Weatherald leans back and taps him over the fine leg fence for SIX! Slipshod bowling. Brilliant batting.
Gervase Greene from Clovelly writes in to ask if “any batter has ever asked Jofra Archer to remove that chunky gold chain he sports around his neck? While it might offend many fans’ aesthetic sensibilities (including mine), if I were a batsman trying to follow a 140kmh thunderbolt such a glittery jangling distraction would infuriate me.”
Gervase, allow me to submit for evidence this salutary tale in which Dean Jones narrowly avoided being scalped by Curtley Ambrose after asking the big fella to remove his armbands…
11th over: Australia 57-0 (Head 20, Weatherald 33) Time for a change, says Ben Stokes as England’s captain brings himself on. He delivers a full bunger straight up and Head feasts, flicking it for three. Stokes gets the next one on a fifth-stump line and the next follows but is shorter. Weatherald squares up and cuts hard. FOUR! England have been loose early here and Australia are making them pay.
10th over: Australia 50-0 (Head 17, Weatherald 29) Weatherald sneaks a single from Atkinson’s first to find a new highest Test score. Head has predictably decided to throw caution to the wind. He swings and misses at two but finds a bit of extra width from the fourth and BANG – it flies over deep backward point for FOUR. That’s Head’s first boundary of the day… but heree’s his second. This one is SIX! A glorious standing slash over slips for a maximum. Head hammers the next one but doesn’t quite time it and settles for three. FIFTY is up for Australia!
9th over: Australia 36-0 (Head 4, Weatherald 28) ALMOST A RUN-OUT! Head punched it into the onside and set off for the run but Ollie Pope swooped and threw and the Australian had to scramble to get back in time. NOW A DROPPED CATCH! Archer dug it in short and it leapt at Head’s throat, finding a thick edge. Jamie Smith got the gloves up but a fraction too late and it bounced off his thumb and fell to ground. Head somehow survives. Wow, that could be a massive moment in this Test match. Head taps a single to think on his second life while Weatherald slashes at Archer’s fifth ball and sends it soaring over the cordon for his sixth boundary.
8th over: Australia 30-0 (Head 3, Weatherald 23) Jake the Snake strikes! Atkinson pitched it up and Weatherald met it with full force, driving powerfully down the ground. Two balls later he finds the rope again, taking this one off middle stump and punching it to the boundary. Now he brings down the hammer again, this time cutting Atkinson through covers. Three boundaries in an over for for Weatherald!
7th over: Australia 18-0 (Head 3, Weatherald 12) Archer stays full to Weatherald who is seeing them well now and works a single with a punched pull. Archer bends his back to ping the next two in short to Head, seeking the ribs. But the man with the moustache takes both off the soup strainer and flicks them away without scoring.
Although Joe Root and Jofra Archer found valuable runs for the final wicket, a few critics think they played day two unwisely. “England didn’t take the chance to bowl under lights on Day 1. Sensible. Day 2, third over. Root on strike. Why take the single first ball?” says Gavin Margetson. “Archer is a No.9 or 10, fair enough he’s not an 11. But England’s best chance of winning is if its best batsman spends as much of the 5 days as possible at the crease.”
Tony Hughes agrees: “Bazball or whatever we’re calling this unnecessary aggressiveness made no sense here. All Archer had to do was block and play the poor balls, allowing Joe Root to make runs. England cannot go 15 minutes without trying to smash bowlers around. Make it make sense!”
6th over: Australia 17-0 (Head 3, Weatherald 10) Australia are away now. Each batter taps a single from the first deliveries of Atkinson’s third over. Extra bounce on the third and Weatherald flinches as the pink missile finds a crack and flies at his grille. Next ball isn just as fast – 138kph – but benign. Weatherald scampers a single from the last.
5th over: Australia 14-0 (Head 2, Weatherald 8) After 14 balls without a run, Travis Head finally gets off the mark, working Archer off his pads for a quick two runs. Archer has his pace up to 143kph but hasn’t quite nailed the line yet. Now he strays down leg and Head gets his hip on it, to send it skidding away to the fine leg boundary for leg byes. Fifth ball is a beauty, sizzling past the edge and making Head jump.
4th over: Australia 8-0 (Head 0, Weatherald 8) Runs at last! Atkinson is short on the second ball and Weatherald seizes on it, late cutting sweetly to the third man rope. Nice shot and a nerve settler for the 31-year-old in his second Test. Yowzer! Atkinson digs the final ball in even shorter and Weatherald takes it on, top-edging high over the slips. Roots and Smith give chase but it bounces once and goes over for FOUR.
3rd over: Australia 0-0 (Head 0, Weatherald 0) Twelve balls and no runs so far and it’s Archer v Head again. The England firebrand has drawn hints of swing from this day two pitch and is moving the ball across Head at 140kph+ looking to feed his three slips a snick. Head stays circumspect to the first four but steps down to the fifth but flays it straight to square leg. Another dot ball on the last. Three maidens!
2nd over: Australia 0-0 (Head 0, Weatherald 0) Now it’s Jake Weatherald’s turn. He has Gus Atkinson steaming in at him. And straight away the big quick is online, thundering the first delivery into Weatherald’s pads at 137kph and sending the second whistling past off stump. The tattooed Tasmanian had a ixed bag debut. He fell second-ball in the first dig at Perth but showed good signs in the second innings. With Head at the other end, he attacked England’s bowlers and swaggered to 28 while Head plundered his way to a famous century. Second over is another maiden.
1st over: Australia 0-0 (Head 0, Weatherald 0) Head takes strike as he did in the first Test, shielding his junior partner and throwing down the gauntlet to England’s bowlers. Archer sprays the first three wide of off-stump and puts the fourth down leg. Head doesn’t waft at any of them. Instead he watches and waits. Finally he gets a straight ball he has to defend. A dot ball follows. Archer delivers a maiden first-up.
Here comes Travis Head with Jake Weatherald to open Australia’s innings. Jofra Archer has the fresh pink ball in his hands at the Vulture Street end. What a duel this will be… here we go, folks.
First innings: England all out 334
That looked a little ominous for Australia as Joe Root and Jofra Archer came out swinging and seized on some sloppy bowling from young Australian fast-bowler Brendan Doggett. But thanks to a magnificent bit of out-fielding by Labuschange, Australia has spared itself further embarrassment and will start their chase early in the day. Joe Root walks off with a wonderful unbeaten 138 from 206 balls and that tenth wicket stand with Archer (38 from 36) spanned 70 runs.
How crucial will that wagging English tail be?
WICKET! Archer c Labuschagne b Doggett 38 (England 334)
Archer launches, looking for a six. The ball was back of a length and the big quick spun on his hip and sent it high into the vast outfield of the Gabba. Brisbane boy Marnus Labuschagne saw it coming early and sprinted to meet it, jumping full-length to his right and plucking the catch. Superb grab! England are ALL OUT!
76th over: England 333-9 (Root 137, Archer 38) Mitchell Starc enters the attack. Can he continue his remarkable run of dismissals in the first over of a spell? Archer attacks from the get-go, stepping out to a full delivery and driving handsomely to the rope. Great shot! Starc hangs the next one wider and it wobbles past Archer’s flashing blade. Starc reclaims his line on the next three and Archer is happy to bank his boundary and watch them sail by.
75th over: England 329-9 (Root 137, Archer 34) In his second Test, Doggett was ineffective yesterday, finishing with 0-74. He starts today with a short ball. Root pulls it but finds a fielder. He steers the second one behind square for a single. Jofra Archer adds another run to his highest Test score, swatting another short one. The easy runs for England continue as Root swipes to fine leg. Archer does likewise, ducking and hooking. Four singles, zero threat.
Here we go. Brendan Doggett will open the attack for Australia and he’ll be bowling to Joe Root on 135.
We have sunny skies in Brisbane and the mercury is currently at its highest level – a toasty 28 degrees. Conditions will start cooling off after the 6.32pm AEST sunset as we enter the “witching hour” of pink ball Tests. Presuming Australia snatch this tenth wicket quickly, where will the home side be by then?
Here come the players onto the field…
Mitchell Starc might’ve had Ben Duckett’s measure yesterday but his opening partner Zak Crawley did much better. With Joe Root in company, Crawley stood tall for England to pile on a 117-run stand and drag his side out of the abyss of 5 for 2 and stroke them into a position of superiority at 122 for 3.
Crawley had carved 76 from 93 balls with 11 fours in 138 minutes before he became Michael Neser’s sole victim. Simon Burnton enjoyed the big man’s bounce-back from his double-duck disaster in the first Test in Perth.
Mitchell Starc continued his incredible record of striking in the first over yesterday, sending Ben Duckett on his way from the sixth ball of the Test.
It is the 26th time Starc has struck in the first over of a Test innings. England’s Jimmy Anderson is next (19), Kemar Roach (10) and Stuart Broad (nine) follow and New Zealanders Tim Southee (nine) and Trent Boult (nine) are also first-over demolition experts.
Starc also got some high praise overnight from the man whose 414 Test wickets he surpassed yesterday. Wasim Akram got his 414 from 104 Tests at 23.62 while Starc has his from 103 Tests at a higher average but a superior strike-rate.
Super Starc! Proud of you, mate. Your incredible hard work sets you apart, and it was only a matter of time before you crossed my tally of wickets . I am pleased to give this to you! Go well, and keep soaring to new heights in your stellar career . 🙏🙏@mstarc56
— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) December 4, 2025
England’s fans found some villains of their own, with no less than four of their side – Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse – failing to trouble the scorer. Of those donut kings, Max Rushden reserved special scorn for one English batter…
It’s impossible to write this without saying the F word repeatedly. Just leave it outside the off stump. Surely there’s been some self-reflection since Perth. Surely. IT ISN’T THERE TO BE HIT. The whole Ashes is disappearing before our eyes.
But if you’re English, Joe Root was the rolled gold star of the opening day. Having closely followed Root’s rise and 13,551 runs since his Test debut in 2012, Barney Ronay was happy to rhapsodise about the Yorkie terrier’s rescue job in Brisbane.
Follow the story, the craft, the jags in the road, the pieces this thing takes out of you along the way. And at the end of it you have one of those great self-contained sporting moments, the sense of emotional connection through all the surrounding hoopla, the way Test cricket in particular can make you feel you know someone intimately just by watching them move and work and fail and come back.
If you’re a hometown supporter, Australia’s selectors were the villains of day one, leaving an “absolutely filthy” Nathan Lyon our of the side to play Gabba specialist Michael Neser, and Mitchell Starc was again the conquering hero.
Geoff Lemon paid fitting tribute to the big quick from Penrith who saved his side’s blushes (again) and whose sterling six-for swept him past the 414 dismissals of the great Wasim Akram to make Starc the most prolific left-arm quick of all.
In a series supposed to be defined by Australia’s fast-bowling Big Three, he has done the work as the sole member to make the starting line. With one English wicket left to fall and his tally on six for 46, he was on the brink of the remarkable feat of recording career-best figures for the fourth time in less than 12 months.
For those who came in late… here’s our blow-by-blow, over-by-over coverage of day one.
Preamble
Angus Fontaine
Hello cricket fans! Welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage for day two of the second Test between Australia and England at the Gabba for the 2025-26 Ashes.
This match is beautifully poised, with both combatants seizing momentum then letting it slide throughout a gripping opening day. England won the toss and chose to bat but it was Australia who drew first blood, Mitchell Starc working his magic with the rapid-fire dismissals of Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope to have the visitors two wickets down for five runs.
Joe Root strode out in the fifth over with a serious salvage mission on his hands. His team were one-nil down in the series, back at Australia’s happiest hunting ground of the “Gabbatoir” and still raw from their drubbing in Perth. But at stumps, Root’s resilience had carved a new legend to lead his side to an improbable 325 for nine.
The 34-year-old Yorkshireman had also got the gorilla off his back at last with a maiden century in Australia to join the 39 others he’s amassed around the world across 159 Tests over 13 years.And with the help of Zak Crawley (76 from 93) and Jofra Archer (a dervish 32 from 26 late in the day), Root had hauled his team into ascendancy with an unbeaten 135 from 202.
Despite selectors bizarrely benching Nathan Lyon to play a fifth seamer in Michael Neser, Australia entered the final hour of play with their tails up. Starc had another six-for, having seen off Duckett, Pope, Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse for ducks, and Josh Inglis had embarrassed Ben Stokes with a brilliant run-out.
But at 264-9, England sucker-punched them, Root and Archer swinging the axe, seeking fast runs or a late-evening lash at the Australian top-order. They got the former, piling on a fifty-run partnership that will continue this morning to salt the wound of Lyon’s non-selection and his largely-ineffectual substitutions.
So settle in and buckle up. Play begins at 2pm AEST in Brisbane, 3pm AEDT, 4am GMT.
