Time to wrap things up on the second and final day of the first Test. The second and final day.
Thanks for your company and emails on both days of a mind-blowing Test match. Goodbye!
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It is the UK that is living through a cold snap, but in balmy Perth they were playing in a snow globe. The scenery was static, solid, but everything else was constantly getting shaken up, bits flying in unpredictable directions. The crowd roared, commentators gibbered, the glitter never settled.
Unlike the first day England were not batting at the start, though they were not long delayed. At which point a pattern quickly emerged, one that almost perfectly repeated that established on the previous day, while also being completely different. The bowler who was useless was good, the marginal, unconvincing snickometer-based review that was not out was now given. Some things were both precisely the same (Australia’s tactics against England’s tail, how the tail reacted to Australia’s tactics) and also, at the same time, completely the opposite (the outcome).
More from Brendon McCullum
[On England’s collapse after lunch] I thought Boland bowled exceptionally well – he hit the deck hard and his paces were up. We were on top of him in the first innings so (it was impressive) the way he came back at a pivotal moment: we were 100 ahead and only one down so that was the time for us to start to try and manoevre the game into our favour.
In the end we nicked a couple of wide ball and chopped on. Some of our high-quality players, our freewheeling cricketers, weren’t able to put pressure back on the opposition. Instead we found ourselves in a bit of a slump. That’s something we’ll have to look at again. But I never want us to go away from our style – putting opposition teams under pressure gives us our best opportunity to win games.
Yes, there are times when we have to throttle down and times when we have to power up. But the basic principle of how we operate as a team is to put pressure on the opposition. And I’ll stress: I thought 200 was a good score until Travis Head played the way he did.
We’ll let the dust settle tonight and then map out a plan (for the next two weeks) and decide whether some guys (get some time in the middle). This has come quickly and we’re disappointed, but we’re strong believers in what we’re doing.
The first innings was as good a fast-bowling performance as I’ve seen in the time I’ve been in the job. We wanted to hit Australia with hostility and pace, and it showed what is possible. We probably didn’t have enough downtime to hit them again with the same hostility in the second innings.
Brendon McCullum talks to TNT Sports
I thought 200 was a good score for us to try to defend. The way Travis Head played was absolutely outstanding; it’s one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen in a pressure situation on a tough wicket. He knocked us off our lengths. We wanted to try to hold length as long as we possibly could but he put us under so much pressure that we couldn’t do it.
I spoke to [Adam Gilchrist] just before the last innings and he said, ‘I think you guys have got 30 too many.’ We might have needed another 230 the way Travis played. If someone delivers a performance like that, you have to tip your cap. Yes, we’ll look at how we can control things better if that confronts us again, but you’ve got to acknowledge how special a knock that was – especially as he was out of position as well. I thought it was a brave call from the Australian captain and coach. Clearly they wanted to make the ball soft as soon as possible. He was superb.
We’ve been trying to insulate against reacting too strongly. We know it’ll hurt – not just us but all the people who fillow this cricket team as well. There will be a lot of chatter. For us it’s about making sure we don’t allow our confidence and our camaraderie to dip too low. We know that at our best we’re a very good cricket team. We’ve now got an extended amount of time off to get ready for Brisbane. We’ve done it before.
“At what point does someone say that it is not acceptable for England to perform like they did today?” asks Gareth Wilson. “At what point does someone say we say it’s ok to lose, you can’t legislate for how someone else plays, by by God you take responsibility for your own game and you suffer consequences when you consistently under perform? At what point does Crawley get dropped? How bad doesn’t have to be?”
I guess that’s a question for bigger cricket brains than mine. My instinct is still that it was the choice of attacking shot rather than the attacking approach per se.
The news from Perth is that the catalogue of great English calamities in Australia has a brand new entry. For the first time in 104 years an Ashes Test match has been wrapped up inside just two days and England, on the receiving end of an eight-wicket thumping, may already be broken.
Ben Stokes will doubtless push back at that notion, such is his refusal to ever throw in the towel. But as Travis Head cut and carved his way to a breathtaking 69-ball century, vaporising a target of 205 in just 28.2 overs, the psychological blow landed by the hosts felt greater than their 1-0 lead.
England didn’t lose this game because of their approach with the bat; they lost it because of their choice of attacking weapon.
The match turned in the space of six deliveries this afternoon, when Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Joe Root were all out trying to cover drive – a shot fraught with risk in Perth because of the extra bounce, never mind when the ball is also moving off the seam.
“That is a crushing defeat for England in a game where everything went their way,” says Felix Wood. “The Aussies had injuries before and after the match, lost the toss, even dropped some catches. England had their dream attack, got to bowl on it before it flattened out. Huge praise to Starc and Head, great players doing great player things, but really two top performances was all it took and England fell apart.”
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The cricket’s done and dusted, so why not feast yourself on all our other live coverage this weekend.
And Travis Head didn’t even make the cut
Steve Smith's reaction
Good start, wasn’t it? A two-dayer, which you love as a team when you’re on the right side of it. Today was just incredible. That innings from Travis Head was out of this world. He played some outrageous shots – and even when he shanked it he seemed to hit the gap! When you’re on, you’re on. He made the most of it and got us home.
We were thinking of a few options to open – Nathan Lyon was talked about - and didn’t quite like how it went in the first innings. Travis said he wanted to do it and I was like, ‘Mate, go for your life.’
My gosh, I think it’s right up there with knocks I’ve seen from everyone. Fourth innings, albeit day two; he played some nice shots to start and when they went to the short ball he was toying with them.
[On Mitchell Starc] He was unbelievable. Two of the big three out, a lot on his shoulders as leader of the attack. He bowled beautifully. In the first innings we had a terrible cricket ball and the boys were struggling to keep the seam up straihgt; the way he bowled was incredible. All of our bowlers backed it up beautifully today. Scott Boland was exceptional, his lengths were magnificent, and Starcy bowled like a genius.
[On the debutants] Doggy did really well, he got some key wickets and had some good plans. And Jake had a rough start but the way he came out with Trav today was outstanding. It really set us up for the rest of the innings.
[On Pat Cummins] He’s an absolute weapon, the skipper and arguably the best bowler in the world. Of course we want him back. We’ll wait and see.
Ben Stokes' reaction
Little bit shell-shocked there. That innings from Travis Head was pretty phenomenal. It’s quite raw, quite fresh at the moment. But sheesh, that was some knock.
[On England’s approach] If you look at the way the game played out, the guys who had success with the bat were the ones who were really brave and took the game on. I guess if we were to look back… never think you’ve got enough. If you’re the guy who’s managed to get in, try and give yourself the best chance of going on. But as we saw, anyone who tried to occupy the crease didn’t have much success.
That knock from Travis: yeah, it’s knocked the wind out of us. We tried three or four different plans against him. He was going like a train and when he’s going like that he’s very hard to stop.
The way we bowled yesterday was simply phenomenal. We felt we were in control fo the game when we came out to bowl in the fourth innings, so it’s a tough one to take. But we’ve got four more games to come. Let this sink in, get our heads round it and go from there.
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The player of the match is Mitchell Starc
Aww, Travis Head! To take the game on like that and to come up trumps, that was something to watch, yeah.
It was a helter-skelter two days for both sides. We tried to stick to our guns and do what we do well as a group. You can’t go home not happy with the entertainment across the two days.
I was pretty calm all week. It’s the first time in a while I haven’t had Josh and Pat around, but Scotty’s been here a long time and I’ve known Doggy for a while; he’s fantastic. I’m really pleased I played a role.
More from Travis Head
They’ve got a serious fast bowling attack. I tried to play the sides, to hit down breeze as much as I could, whether that’s giving myself room to carve or pulling when I’m down this end.
[When you saw how the wicket played yesterday, did you imagine you could get a century?] No, no. Shit no. It’s an intimidating place to bat and you can have some sleepless nights with the cracks. It was a pretty good wicket today, being day two, and it’s nice not to have to bat on days four and five.
[On the standing ovation he received from both sets of fans] I’m no good at getting red ink (he was also out just before the end of the 2023 World Cup final after a stunning century). Once I get to that stage I want to get off the field as quick as I possibly can, whether that’s with boundaries or getting out. Yeah, cool moment.
If that’s anything to go by, it’s gonna be a helluva series.
Travis Head's reaction
[Talk us through the emotions of that…] I don’t think you can, can ya? Nah, good stuff, it’s nice. Jeez, it was a tough two days. They’re a seriously good outfit. Starkie led us and we couldn’t let that 7/50 slip. Yeah, it’s nice to contribute.
[Have you processed what you’ve just done?] Nah, not even close.
[When did you tell the captain you wanted to open?] Two years ago! Nah, I was happy to do it; it doesn’t bother me too much. Look, I’ve floated the idea but it’s nice to be able to play a role today. I thought Weathers played beautifully as well.
[Whose decision was it?] Coach, captain. We threw a few ideas around, the senior players throughout the room. There were two or three options. I was pretty keen to do it. Luckily Smith and Ron let me do it.
I could easily have been out in the first over. Didn’t really matter: I thought that was the right process, the right way of thinking. Go out there and see what happens, and it worked today.
It’s nice to set the tone in the series. I feel sorry for the 60,000 that were due to come here tomorrow! What a start.
They’re got a serious fast bowling attack. I tried to play the sides, to hit down breeze as much as I could, whether that’s giving myself room to carve or pulling when I’m down this end.
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The two sets of players shake hands on the field, with the England players all stopping to properly congratulate Travis Head. You can’t even hate the bloke, he’s utterly adorable. It’s not like they’ve been beaten by some grizzled old bugger who deals in remorseless hundreds and four-letter words, just an exceptionally likeable, everyday bloke with the unique ability to decide the games that matter most.
AUSTRALIA WIN BY EIGHT WICKETS!
28.1 overs: Australia 204-2 (Labuschagne 51, Smith 2) Welcome to Mastermind. Your first Mastermind question is: who scored the winning runs when Australia were victorious in the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921?
Steve Smith, of course, with a single off Brydon Carse. It’s hard to know what to say, because we’ve never seen anything like that before. Three hours ago England were well on course for a 1-0 victory, or so it seemed. And then, and then. Well, books will be written about what happened next.
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28th over: Australia 204-2 (Labuschagne 51, Smith 1) Joe Root comes on and is pumped through mid-off for four by Labuschagne. This is savage.
Labuschagne, who 24 hours ago was hanging on for dear life, clubs six over wide long-on to reach a 49-ball fifty. The scores are level; the morale is not.
“Jesus,” says Robert Wilson. “This is a caning...”
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27th over: Australia 192-2 (Labuschagne 40, Smith 0) Travis Head averages 42 in Test cricket. He is also one of the greatest matchwinners ever to play the game.
WICKET! Australia 192-2 (Head c Pope b Carse 123)
Carse replaces whoever was bowling before him. Head launches him over square leg for four, pulls him savagely through midwicket for four – and then holes out to deep midwicket to end an innings of unique brilliance: 123 from 83 balls in an otherwise extremely low-scoring match. And it was the first Test, the one that sets the tone for the next seven weeks.
It’s the first matchwinning hundred in the fourth innings of an opening Ashes Test. Ben Stokes and a few England players run across to congratultae him as he makes his way off to a standing ovation.
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Hey, have you heard this great new pop song?
26th over: Australia 182-1 (Head 113, Labuschagne 40) Labuschagne hits a four, don’t ask me where. Head scorches Atkinson down the ground for another, steers a third over backward point. That brings up the hundred partnership is about seven minutes.
A horrible over from Atkinson includes two wides as he tries to hide the ball from Head. Labuschagne slugs four more to make it 20 from the over.
Australia have scored 154 in the last 19 overs.
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25th over: Australia 162-1 (Head 104, Labuschagne 31) One of these decades, we’ll realise the Australian team of 2017-26 were one of the all-time greats. They’ve been world champions in every format, wiped the floor with most opposition and, best of all, overcoming industrial quantities of adversity in many of their most famous victories. Now, as Will Vignoles wrote earlier, they have their equivalent to Adelaide 2006.
“Having missed the whole day yesterday, I did my usual compensating bottom-up read, suspending disbelief and time itself, pretending I didn’t know a clatter of wickets had fallen and that Stokes had burgled a fivefer,” writes Robert Wilson. “It’s an act of anti-imagination in its way, self-hypnosis or incantation, and it’s amazing how well it works. Very occasionally, it’s nearly better than watching.
“It is a strangely time-travelling form, the OBO. Like a ship’s log. You guys are superbly present tense. Impeccably immediate, responsive and alert. The form is filled the sense that the future hasn’t happened yet - even nine or ten hours later after it was written. This shit is the NOW!
“What’s remarkable is how few hostages to fortune you old OBO lags give. In the rolling urgency of the arrival of the now, there is very little immediately contradicted opining - not much Starc is past it, Stokes is a busted flush and Travis Head is a fat git. That’s pretty astonishing. It’s almost like you guys like the future. Or cricket, or something.
“Noice. Keep it coming.”
Keep it coming? After this? Do you want some?
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24th over: Australia 160-1 (Head 103, Labuschagne 30) Head backs away to Atkinson, tries a tennis slam with both feet off the ground and top-edges the ball to safety on the leg side. No idea how that didn’t go to hand, though it wouldn’t really matter if it did. An England bowler could take a double hat-trick and the game would still be touch and go.
Play has been extended by an extra half an hour, so this will be the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921. That game had a rest day in the middle. England could do with a rest year to get over this.
“Let’s take the positives, Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “At least the England players, and indeed us OBOers, will be able to go over there and do whatever it was we were going to do for the weekend now.”
I wasn’t aware I’d made plans to spend the entire weekend weeping like a bairn, because that’s what I’ll be doing now.
23rd over: Australia 154-1 (Head 101, Labuschagne 26) Head’s epiphany predates Bazball – remember his 148-ball 152 at the Gabba in 2021-22 – and this innings could put Bazball six feet under. I’m not sure how you come back from this. I know Australia did a year ago after being slaughtered by India, but they were on home soil and had plenty of credit in the bank.
Even Labuschagne is rubbing England’s nose in the filth; he backs away to flat-bat Archer through extra cover for four. The pitch looks so benign now. Maybe it’s a trick of the light. Maybe…
“I’m at the match, seeing the pitch up close,” says George Thomson. “Head has been brilliant but the pitch is now a pancake. That is why Atkinson and Carse could do what they did. It turned quite quickly. England’s fantastic bowling yesterday covered up a fantastically bad first batting innings, and the second matched it. They needed Australia chasing 350+. Sadly we will see a whitewash from here; Bazball doesn’t produce draws!”
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Travis Head makes an amazing 69-ball hundred!
22nd over: Australia 147-1 (Head 100, Labuschagne 20) Head wallops Atkinson for four to move to 99. A single behind square on the off side takes him an astonishing, high-speed hundred: 69 balls, 12 fours, four sixes. It’s the joint third fastest for Australia in a Test; only Adam Gilchrist, at the Waca in 2006-07, has scored a faster Ashes hundred.
As an England fan this hurts like hell. But if you don’t love everything about Travis Head – his courage, skill, audacity, selflessness, attitude to life and sport, even that jaunty moustache – you need to seek urgent medical assistance. The phrase is execrable, but by god he is living life to the max.
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21st over: Australia 136-1 (Head 93, Labuschagne 19) Never, ever have I ever felt do low has there been a matchwinning fourth-innings century in the opening Test of an Ashes series. But then there have been very few cricketers with the matchwinning range of this moustache-wearing freak.
“You’re so right about the majestic Travis Head,” writes Rob Lewis. “But still, after 60 years following England (dissolves in tears).”
Funny you should say that, Rob, because I just found this exclusive clip of every England cricket supporter in the whole wide world.
20th over: Australia 136-1 (Head 92, Labuschagne 18) This isn’t a Test match, it’s a T10 game. Head carves and flick-pulls successive boundaries off Atkinson, and by the end of the over he has 92 from 63 balls. That includes 41 from his last 19 deliveries; it’s the batting equivalent of Mitchell Johnson’s spell at the Gabba in 2013-14.
“Hi Rob,” says Angus Chisholm. “Another Ashes series, another gradual but inexorable fatalistic meltdown in the guardian OBO. We are, as they say, so back.”
19th over: Australia 127-1 (Head 84, Labuschagne 17) Archer returns, almost certainly too late. Labuschagne uppercuts for four; Head tries a similar stroke and is beaten. No matter: he pulls the next ball for four, slugs the one after that over mid-on for six. Even by Head’s standards, the chutzpah of this innings is quite something; he’s 84 not out from 59 balls.
The last two-day Ashes Test, since you asked, was in 1921. And I was there!
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18th over: Australia 111-1 (Head 73, Labuschagne 12) After being in such a strong position, any defeat would have been devastating for England. But this… this is resounding, shattering. If England come back fom this to regain the Ashes, a salut.
Ah, sod England, let’s just celebrate the wonder of Travis Head. He waves Atkinson sweetly between extra cover and mid-off for four to move into the seventies, 73 not out from 55 balls to be precise.
When you’re a kid and you daydream about playing sport for your country, what do you want to achieve? More than anything – even an average of 60 with the bat – you want to entertain, to win the biggest matches for your country and your mates; to have fun and enjoy a psychological freedom that most people never feel. Travis Head is everything a sportsman or woman should be.
17th over: Australia 106-1 (Head 68, Labuschagne 12) England had managed to slow the scoring. Head pummels Stokes for three successive boundaries – cover drive, pull, drive through mid-off – to bring up the Australia hundred. For good measure he pulls another two balls later. Seventeen from the over.
With the obvious exception of Headingley 1948 and Joe Darling’s awesome 160 at Sydney in 1898, I can’t think of many better performances by an Australia batter in the fourth innings of Ashes Test.
16th over: Australia 89-1 (Head 50, Labuschagne 12) Brydon Carse (4-0-33-1) is replaced by Gus Atkinson. Stokes misses a potential run-out chance with Head scrambling to make his ground; not sure whether he would have been home or not.
England have managed to slow the scoring in the last 10 minutes. But that four-over spell in which Australia scored 43 runs (overs 7-11) has done untold damage to their hopes.
“Feels like everyone has forgotten this is a day two pitch,” says Pete Salmon. “Of course it’s getting easier. Remember when days two and three were the middle of a Test?”
15th over: Australia 87-1 (Head 50, Labuschagne 11) Ben Stokes comes on for Mark Wood, who bowled a damp squibbish spell of 3-0-23-0. This is the game, right here. Stokes’ introduction almost has the desired effect when Head misses a violent swipe outside off stump; he could easily have dragged that back onto the stumps.
“If England do lose, it won’t quite be That Test in the 2006/07 Ashes but gosh it feels close,” writes Will Vignoles. “On top of all that it’ll provide vindication to those Australian fans and media figures who seem to take the way England play as a personal attack, and even worse than that they’ll have a bit of a point this time around. What a waste!”
There are two sides to every utter fiasco story, though, and Australia’s resilience – individual and collective – is endlessly impressive. This victory, should it happen, will sit alongside the 2021 T20 World Cup, the 2023 World Cup, the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and all the other times they have greeted adversity with two very stiff fingers.
14th over: Australia 86-1 (Head 50, Labuschagne 10) Carse drifts onto the pads of Labuschagne and is clipped efficiently through midwicket for four. A short ball is dumped to the same area for three.
England have lost all control of the scoreboard; At this stage in the first innings Australia were 28 for 1.
A 36-ball fifty for Travis Head
13th over: Australia 79-1 (Head 50, Labuschagne 3) Head whips Wood for a single to reach the most brilliant half-century: 36 balls, 3x4, 3x6. His 152 at the Gabba shaped the 2021-22 Ashes; this innings could have a similar impact. He is a giant of the modern game.
Wood’s rhythm isn’t quite right, with his pace around 88mph/142kph. England can’t afford to wait for him to find it.
“I think England got their processes messed up by Head opening,” says Phil Harrison. “They tried to apply their plans to him as a middle order player to him as an opener. With the new ball, you just bowl new ball line and length, whoever is batting. Head got in their head, basically.”
That’s what great players do. I thought England were pretty accurate in the first five overs, but once Head got going they panicked a bit.
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12th over: Australia 75-1 (Head 49, Labuschagne 0) The Weatherald wicket was the first ball that has really kicked from the pitch. Carse produces another to beat the new batter Labuschagne all ends up. In fact it was an even better delivery, a lifter that seamed extravagantly. “Wowsers!” says an open-mouthed Labuschagne to everyone and no one.
WICKET! Australia 75-1 (Weatherald c Duckett b Carse 23)
It’s not the wicket England wanted but they’ll take it. Weatherald pulls Carse for four with a touch of contempt, tries again and is surprised by some extra bounce. He gets a top-edge on to the helmet and is easily caught by Duckett in the covers.
That’s the end of a mentally tough knock from Weatherald: 23 from 34 balls. He will feel like a Test player now.
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11th over: Australia 71-0 (Head 49, Weatherald 18) The pitch looks placid now, but that might be an illusion glimpsed the aftermath of another Travis Head boundary. He jumps across to fetch Wood over finr leg for six, then belts four more past backward point. In a very low-scoring game, Head has screeched to 49 from 35 balls. One of the greatest matchwinners of his generation has turned the match, maybe the series, in less than an hour.
“I fancied Australia to chase these when they started,” writes Phil Harrison. “But I didn’t think they were going to coast it. I know it’s only one game but this is going to feel crushing given the match situation at lunch.”
I’m trying to keep a level head, summon Kipling. What was it he said?
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
Then you’ve never watched England play cricket
Have you, my son?
10th over: Australia 58-0 (Head 38, Weatherald 18) Forget Travis Head’s Test average of 42. He Head is the most precious species in sport, a huge-game player, and it looks like he’s doing it again here. Head throws the kitchen sink at a full, wide delivery from Carse, slicing it high over the slips for six. There was a man on the boundary but it cleared him comfortably.
Carse’s first two overs have disappeared for 22.
9th over: Australia 47-0 (Head 29, Weatherald 17) Archer off, Mark Wood on. Head jumps up to slap three through the covers, then Weatherald calmly steers a boundary past the slip cordon. Australia were too passive with the bat yesterday; this partnership has been a model of controlled aggression. England need a maiden, never mind a wicket, because this is getting away form them in a hurry.
8th over: Australia 39-0 (Head 26, Weatherald 13) Brydon Carse, on for Gus Atkinson, is panelled for 11 in his first over. The second ball is short and follows Head, who bends his back to uppercut it over the keeper’s head. That’s a sensational shot, Australia’s first six of the match, and he follows up with a flamboyant thrash to the cover boundary.
The decision to open with Travis Head could win the match for Australia; he has raced to 26 from 25 balls.
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7th over: Australia 28-0 (Head 16, Weatherald 12) Archer overpitches to Head, who clumps him through mid-off for three. The bowlers aren’t getting much zip out of the pitch at the moment; it might be time for Brydon Carse to thump the bejesus out of a good length. Or maybe he could wait a few overs until the heavy roller wears off.
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6th over: Australia 22-0 (Head 11, Weatherald 11) Weatherald pulls Atkinson stylishly for three, an excellent shot to a ball that wasn’t particularly short. These are worrying times for England.
“For some reason the phrase RGD-W/8-43 is on my mind,” writes Paul Griffin. “What can it mean? Has the Aphex Twin recorded a Christmas single at last?”
5th over: Australia 16-0 (Head 8, Weatherald 8) This is a fine start for Australia. If they can survive Archer’s first spell they will arguably be favourites.
“Lest we forget,” says Abhishek Chopra, “this is the best opening partnership of this match by quite the distance.”
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Weatherald is not out! He knew he hadn’t hit it. It was a cracking delivery that snaked back through the gate, but there was no inside edge.
WICKET? Australia 15-1 (Weatherald c Smith Archer 7)
Weatherald works Archer through square leg for three to get off the mark in Test cricket. That was his 11th delivery of the innings, his 13th of the match, and the runs were greeted with extravagant cheers from the home fans.
His first boundary follows soon after, snicked all along the ground, but then he’s given out caught behind off a beauty from Archer. England are certain, so is the umpire, but Weatherald has reviewed it straight away.
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4th over: Australia 7-0 (Head 7, Weatherald 0) Head does go after Atkinson’s first ball, slamming a cut that is stopped at backward point by Carse. Atkinson’s over is largely excellent – tight line, good length – but when he drifts too full, Head puts him away to the midwicket boundary with a flourish. Australia have started well.
3rd over: Australia 3-0 (Head 3, Weatherald 0) No fireworks yet from Travis Head, who has started watchfully against Archer. He might try to put pressure on Atkinson at the other end.
After Head takes a single, Weatherald tries to pull Archer and is hit on the arm. Weatherald takes the blow and smiles down the wicket; not sure whether that was at Archer or Head. But for a guy on a pair in a huge Ashes Test, Weatherald looks pretty calm. Calmer than you are.
“If either side manage to wrap this up today, could they not just play an extra Test on the spare days?” says Tim Woods. “They could probably even have a day off in between.”
2nd over: Australia 2-0 (Head 2, Weatherald 0) Gus Atkinson starts around the wicket to the left-handed Jake Weatherald. No specialist batter has made a pair on Test debut for Australia, so Weatherland will be desperate to get off the mark. But Atkinson gives him nothing in the first over and he sensibly plays out a maiden.
“I’ve been out for a few drinks (Illinois time) and settled down to watch the cricket before bed,” writes Martin Widdicks. “I think I saw a fifty partnership for the eighth wicket in what seemed like five overs, and then someone out caught from a shot played a yard outside off stump. I guess I’m more drunk than I thought.”
1st over: Australia 2-0 (Head 2, Weatherald 0) Jofra Archer starts with a quiet over to Head. There were a couple of balls down the leg side, possibly deliberate, and a beauty that seamed past the edge. Head flicked the last ball for two to get Australia up and running. They need to make the highest score of the match to win, but they’re batting on a day-two pitch so that isn’t as tough as it sounds.
England batted for 67.3 overs in the entire match, their shortest total in an Ashes Test (where they lost all 20 wickets) since 1888.
Are you sitting comfortably? Well I’m afraid that won’t do. Find an uncomfortable spot and settle down for the Australian run-chase. As if things weren’t exciting enough, Travis Head, the original Bazballer, is opening the batting. He could seize the initiative in half an hour.
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“Hi Rob,” writes Clive Darwell. “If anyone’s after some action in which the contestants have steeled themselves over months of preparation and perform with utmost application, the world coin-tossing championships are on Eurosport.”
Usman Khawaja will not open in the second innings. He left the field again with a back spasm during the England innings. Sir Alastair Cook, talking on TNT Sports, reckons it’s “a 50/50 game”. And in a statement of the offensively obvious, I’d like to place on record that Steve Smith and Travis Head are the key men.
“I’ve been a big fan of ‘Bazball’, but like so many other intoxicating things in life, it should be practiced in a judicious manner,” says Manjinder Sidhu.. “Everything in moderation and all that.
“England’s second innings is alarmingly similar to when my five-year-old nephew finds a few a few too many Freddos going spare and inevitably becomes too excited to think properly. Australia haven’t even bowled that well. I’m concerned…”
Do life’s most intoxicating things really need to be practiced in a judicious manner? It’s a good question, and I’ll get back to you when I’ve finished the secret stash of Freddos.
Tea: Australia need 205 to win
Mitchell Starc leads Australia off after an immense performance. He took 3 for 55 in the innings, 10 for 113 in the match, but that three-for doesn’t tell the full story of a terrific spell that included the key wickets of Joe Root and Ben Stokes.
A word too for Scott Boland, who got back on the Bazball horse, the one that keeps dismounting him, and bowled quite beautifully to take 4 for 33.
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WICKET! England 164 all out (Atkinson c Doggett b Boland 37)
Gus Atkinson plonks his front foot down and sweep/ramps Scott Boland to fine leg, where Doggett takes a well-judged running catch.
I have no idea what has just happened, or what we are watching, or who is going to win. But I can tell you that the players are going to take tea.
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34th over: England 164-9 (Atkinson 37, Wood 4) Mark Wood, on a king pair, heaves his first ball to cow corner for four. And why the hell not.
“Seeing a lot of doomy world views from English fans today - I’d traditionally be one of them,” writes Robin from Stockport. “But really, whatever happens here there are frailties on show from both teams - whoever walks away one down will feel like one got away, but very much up for another crack on 4 Deecmber. That’s the makings of a classic series right there for me. I’ll keep getting up early until it isn’t!”
I agree with you. I think. But given the position England were in at lunch, this would be a pretty devastating defeat.
WICKET! England 160-9 (Archer c Smith b Doggett 5)
Jofra Archer lasts three balls: a single, a thump to the cover boundary and a top-edged pull that is expertly caught on the run by Steve Smith. England lead by exactly 200.
Oh, and 29 wickets have fallen in less than 113 overs. Out there what is going off I just don’t know.
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Despite the ugly end, that was a fine cameo from Carse, 20 from as many deliveries. Funny old game, cricket; in this innings Carse has scored twice as many as Root, Brook and Stokes combined.
WICKET! England 154-8 (Carse c Carey b Doggett 20)
One for the purists, this. Brydon Carse runs well outside off stump, tries to ramp Doggett and gets a thin tickle through to Carey. By the time Carse made contact with the ball he was standing on about 15th stump.
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33rd over: England 154-7 (Atkinson 36, Carse 20) Atkinson gets inside the line to hook Starc very fine for six. Starc then stops in his delivery stride and looks accusingly at the non-striker Carse, although replays suggest Carse hadn’t backed up too far. Carse has a word with Starc - possibly two, the first one beginning with the sixth letter of the alphabet.
Talking of six, Atkinson has just pulled another over the head of the man at long leg. That’s the fourth sixth of this partnership; before that there was only one in the match. This is rapidly, very rapidly, turning into a game-changing stand: a pair of twos bring up the fifty partnership in just 34 balls.
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32nd over: England 138-7 (Atkinson 20, Carse 20) One thing in England’s favour is that their bowlers will get some overnight rest during Australia’s run-chase; that could be vital.
This partnership is certainly vital. Doggett, on for Boland, drags his first ball down and is put away for four by Atkinson. Carse then pulls just short of midwicket. He and Atkinson have added 34 in 29 balls.
“Is it just me or is there really a bit of Harold Larwood about Brydon Carse?” writes Abhishek Chopra. “Strong lad, bustling batter, energetic pacer specialising in short-pitched bowling. England would love 98 runs off his bat at this stage.”
I can’t picture Larwood bowling, so not sure about their actions, but I like the comparison of their roles in the team. Both spiky and fearless as well.
31st over: England 131-7 (Atkinson 12, Carse 19) Atkinson slashes Starc behind square for three, though it would have been four but for the outfield. Carse does find the boundary with a lovely thump through the covers. He is such a valuable cricketer: he’s taken three wickets, three catches and is now scoring some very handy runs.
“Maybe the long DRS check,” begins my colleague Luke McLaughlin, “was to desperately try and get some day-three ticket revenue.”
30th over: England 122-7 (Atkinson 9, Carse 15) Scott Boland returns to the attack. I’m slightly in awe of the mental strength and skill he has shown today, because it would have been easy to surrender to self-doubt after the pummelling he suffered on day one.
Carse takes us back in time, all the way to yesterday afternoon, by charging Boland and haddocking six down the ground. Shot! And useful runs, for England now lead by 162.
“Waking up to an England Ashes collapse is a staple,” writes Felix Wood. “I went for a bit of a twist today – watched until lunch and then drifted back to sleep until ten minutes ago, to be greeted by England’s latest heroic crusade to counter those saying cricket has become too much of a batsman’s game. This series has the feel of humiliation all over it already.”
That’s the spirit!
29th over: England 114-7 (Atkinson 8, Carse 8) Carse fences at Starc and is beaten. Australia have always been so good at detonating the lower order in their own conditions, even when Nos 8-11 can bat a bit. Atkinson has a Test hundred, a spectacular one at that, and Carse has made two in first-class cricket.
“Slightly conflicted about that DRS call there – I think he did hit it so maybe you just say the right decision reached in the end, no great harm done, but was that really enough evidence to overturn a not out decision (especially when a similar one went the other way yesterday)?” says Will Vignoles. “Maybe it’s just my England bias clinging desperately to a last shred of hope in a horrific session but that feels a bit unsatisfying.”
Tricky, isn’t it? I’m confident he hit it, mainly because he started walking off, but you could certainly argue the evidence was insufficient. The spike on Snicko was slightly bigger than Labuschagne’s yesterday. In the grand scheme, I think it’s a minor controversy at worst.
28th over: England 112-7 (Atkinson 7, Carse 7) Smith started to walk off the field when Australia reviewed his decision, then hung around just in case. I’d be confident he hit it, but England could reasonably argue that the evidence is not conclusive if it takes the third umpire five minutes to overturn the decision. Either way, England have lost six wickets for 39 runs in a dramatic post-lunch collapse.
They’re going to keep swinging regardless. The new batter Brydon Carse tries to pull Doggett and top-edges six over the keeper’s head.
WICKET! England 104-7 (Smith c Carey b Doggett 15)
Jamie Smith is out! He flicked away from his body at a short delivery that bounced down the leg side and through to Alex Carey. There was a slight spike on RTS – a bit more than the murmur in the Marnus Labuschagne incident yesterday – and the third umpire eventually decided there was enough evidence to overturn the on-field decision.
‘Eventually’ is the operative word. Apparently it took over five minutes, and the TNT Sports commentators think the evidence was inconclusive.
Jamie Smith started to walk before coming back after this hotly discussed moment. So what's your call here?#Ashes | #DRSChallenge | @Westpac pic.twitter.com/FpiqM6U6uM
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 22, 2025
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The third umpire is still checking. You can make a case both ways but my instinct is it should – and will – be given out. Either way, a controversy is brewing.
Australia review for caught behind!
Alex Carey thinks he’s taken Smith down the leg side off Doggett. We’ll soon find out. Smith played away from his body so if there was a noise, I don’t know what else it could have been.
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27th over: England 104-6 (Smith 15, Atkinson 6) After Smith edges Starc over the slips for four, a bye brings up the England hundred. We’ve got another seven weeks of this, you know.
Atkinson misses a wild slap, digs out a terrific yorker and then clips a poor delivery over backward square leg for four. That’s a nice, controlled stroke. Until that point he looked like he was trying to hit every ball into the year 2027.
Usman Khawaja is wincing his way off the field, presumably with another back spasm. The poor guy has had a miserable Test.
England lead by 144.
Thanks Geoff, hello everyone. I’ll see Steven Pye’s Melbourne 1990 and raise him Brisbane 1990, the first Test of the “fart competing with thunder” series.
26th over: England 95-6 (Smith 11, Atkinson 2) J Smith is happy to give Atkinson strike first ball, pulling Doggett. Atkinson plays a shot a ball, misses most of them, and finally scores two from the last ball before drinks.
“Starting to get horrible Melbourne 1990 vibes about this match,” writes Steven Pye. “To be honest, I’ve never really got over that second innings collapse, so this effort after lunch is not helping.”
Meanwhile, Paul Harrison is following from Brooklyn. “Tell me: does Win-Viz or whatever the heck it was called still exist? If so, what is it saying? And how does that compare to the ol’ Geoff Lemon gut in terms of what could transpire over the next three days... er, hours?”
I don’t think we’re getting to day three, at this rate… if England complete this collapse, Australia could win today. But if England have 180 to bowl at they might yet be competitive. Plenty of pace still in the pitch, an opposition hopped up on adrenaline, and England’s give fast bowlers will be fresh.
Anyway, that’s me out, and I’ll leave you to memories of 1990 from Rob Smyth.
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25th over: England 92-6 (Smith 10, Atkinson 0) With all that carnage happening, Atkinson walks out and plays a horrible shot, booming a drive at his first ball and missing it completely. Starc finishes the over with one that strays down leg, clipping the pad on the way for four byes.
WICKET! Stokes c Smith b Starc 2, England 88-6
The change of ends works! Everything is working for Australia now. The England captain is gone, the man who could have marshalled a rearguard, and it’s not due to a bad shot, it’s another belter of a delivery. Some angle in, some movement away, a hard length that gets up high on the bat as Stokes tries to defend, and it rockets into Smith’s midsection at slip. Hands in the right spot, Australia’s stand-in skipper completes the removal of his counterpart, and Starc has 10 wickets in a Test match for the third time in his career.
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24th over: England 85-5 (Stokes 2, Smith 7) Not a bad over from Doggett, getting some movement. I think he’s come on to swing Starc around to the southern end…
23rd over: England 83-5 (Stokes 1, Smith 6) The English singing in the stands is getting loud now, urging on their last recognised pair. Everyone is back in their seats, I can only see a few hundred empties in the very back rows of the top deck. Boland has the ball on a string now, nibbling off the pitch outward and inward, working over Smith. Beats the edge, cuts back in to smack the pad, too high. Maiden, his second. This is why they pick Boland, you England followers who keep saying he’s no good on the basis of the two games you’ve seen him play.
“Hello darkness my old friend,” emails Will Vignole, “from a dark and rainy north west - this is all beginning to feel like the same grim old story from an England point of view. I’m a big defender of this team but this has been a pretty abject self-immolation - they made some improvements to their game sense over the last year but all of that seems to have gone out of the window. Australia’s batters don’t look much better but I know which dressing room I’d rather be in right now.”
22nd over: England 83-5 (Stokes 1, Smith 6) Smith smokes it straight, Starc puts his shin in the way, and the ball ricochets to midwicket for a run. How does the wagon wheel draw that one? Stokes gets off the mark with a nudge through square.
21st over: England 80-5 (Stokes 0, Smith 4) Boland to Smith, who is watchful against the stuff on a length, but pulls the one shorter ball for three runs.
Rightly or wrongly, dropped catches become emblematic for players near the end – think Brad Haddin dropping Joe Root at Cardiff in 2015, or Adam Gilchrist’s drop off Laxman that made Gilchrist think his time was done. That one for Khawaja has that kind of energy. He nearly dropped the first one off Crawley yesterday, then spent so much time off the field that the top order was turned upside down. Now this. It doesn’t look right.
20th over: England 77-5 (Stokes 0, Smith 1) So it is Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith starting anew, together, both on nought, as Starc hunts the edge of Smith’s bat, beats it with the second ball, takes it with the third ball, and Usman Khawaja drops the catch. Low, dipping, near ankle height, but your first slip has to hold that, and he’s parried it into the ground to give Smith a first run.
WICKET! Root b Starc 8, Australia 76-5
Goodness me! Starc comes back and lands the biggest fish. Or more accurately, the biggest fish swims up and leaps straight into his boat. There are no sharks to follow this old man through the sea and steal his prize. Just a conventional Starc left-arm delivery, fast and angled across a right-hander from over the wicket, on a length, and Root throws the hands like Brook did, like Crawley did, and chops it from the angled blade back onto his stumps. The roar around Perth Stadium! England have lost 4 for 9!
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WICKET! Brook c Khawaja b Boland 0, England 76-4
19th over: England 76-4 (Root 8) Oh, Harry. Yer not a wizard, not today. What sort of shot was that? Root and Brook, they’re the real quiz. They’re the engine room. But Brook walks out, faces too balls, then tries to smack Boland, on the up, to a ball that is tight on the line of off stump. He only succeeds in nicking it to first slip.
When Boland takes wickets, he does it in bursts, and now he has three in ten balls.
WICKET! Pope c Carey b Boland 33, England 76-3
Pope throws his head back yelling in dismay, but that is the least throwing-your-head-back-worthy dismissal imaginable. After playing and missing about 43 times, he plays and edges, a huge drive once more at Boland, whose wider line tempts the shot, and I think that was deliberately bowled after having been tighter before that ball. Nick, caught behind.
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18th over: England 75-2 (Pope 33, Root 7) More Green, bowling from the Langer Stand end, mostly down the leg side. There’s one appeal for a catch, but no. When Root gets on strike, he smokes a pull for four.
“Waiting for my daughter’s five minute part in a three hour matinee of performances mostly comprised of pensioners Zumba classes. God bless the OBO.”
It strikes me, Eamonn Maloney, that parenting is just not worthwhile.
17th over: England 67-2 (Pope 30, Root 2) A big reception from the England fans for Joe Root, who smartly gets off a pair first ball by tucking Boland through square for two runs. This is exactly the platform that Root can make the most of, leading by 105 as he comes to the crease.
WICKET! Duckett c Smith b Boland 28, England 65-2
There is Boland’s first for the match! And just as well for Australia that they gave him the ball after the break. It’s a classic Boland dismissal, high bounce from a good length, getting Duckett propping forward and pushing, the edge going low to slip when Smith takes it smartly.
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16th over: England 64-1 (Duckett 28, Pope 29) Start the way you mean to go on? Ollie Pope plays a huge drive first ball of the over, and misses the lot once more. It’s Cameron Green with the ball to start this session, which is interesting. I would have thought Starc would have a burst after the break. Pope does latch onto his next attempt at a boundary, this time a shorter ball that he can hit squarer for four.
Alright, lunch is done, and we’re about to get going once more.
Lunch – England 59 for 1, lead by 99 runs
It was a scratchy session for England’s second pair, but it’s ultimately been successful. A lead of 99 is substantial with most of the batting yet to come. Australia need something in the next stanza from Doggett, who has been patchy today, and Boland, who has just started to find his rhythm.
15th over: England 59-1 (Duckett 28, Pope 24) Now what in the Sam Hill was that? Duckett charges Boland like a man running for his bus, does a sudden turn back like a man realising he’s forgotten his umbrella, and in between times is smashed on the front elbow. He’s in a lot of pain, wanders off to square leg, waits for treatment, and there’s a lengthy delay as he gets seen to by the physio.
Finally gets back to take guard, final ball of the over, and Boland runs in and pins him lbw! The umpire gives it. Duckett reviews, because he’s jumping and it hits him above the knee roll, but he’s still short enough and playing far enough back for that to be clipping the bails… but it’s pitched outside leg! By a millimetre. Poor old Boland, thought he’d broken through, but not to be.
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Our reporter Ali Martin is lurking somewhere nearby at the ground, writing in.
“Speaking of AC/DC, I was part of the first ever crowd in this ground, a test event eight years ago that saw England Lions play Perth Scorchers. Memories include Mitchell Johnson looking pants-wettingly terrifying on a pitch that hadn’t remotely settled, Mark Wood somehow drilling him back over his head for one of the biggest sixes I have ever seen, and the ‘Thunderstruck’ light show at the change of innings. It’s not an amazing anecdote, granted.”
Cricket is full of not amazing anecdotes, Ali, but anything that involves Mark Wood hitting a dinger, I’ll listen to.
14th over: England 58-1 (Duckett 28, Pope 23) Finally, a shot makes the fence. Duckett steps into a straight drive against Doggett and hits it very nicely, no slogging, no heaving, no displaced vertebrae.
“Yesterday was a whirlwind of cricket. The bowling was amazing! But the English batting was awful and Australia was even worse. Has T20 destroyed test batting? Would love to see a century or two and some determined, patient batting. Maybe I’m too old school.”
Hello, Kathy Phillips. I agree that the batting was dreadful, really. But I don’t think that T20 is the culprit. Most of these players hardly play any. England’s lot are churning out 20 Tests a year, and not many of Australia’s Test side are regular short-form players. Australian pitches are good for bowlers these days, and the batters can’t handle it.
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13th over: England 54-1 (Duckett 24, Pope 23) How is Pope still there? Twice more in this over he pushes at Boland, gets beaten, nearly nicks it, doesn’t nick it. He’s living on borrowed deliveries. It’s a maiden, Boland’s first for the match.
12th over: England 54-1 (Duckett 24, Pope 23) The Duck drives The Dog nicely through mid off, but again the grass saves a couple of runs.
“Delighted to see Crawley’s pair, despite being English - not because of any dislike or ill will, but because I am so desperate that England reconsider whatever gnostic rites they’ve bound themselves to in the name of the Undroppable. Please, give the boy a rest. A big innings now and then is all very nice, but his average is unforgivable.”
I’m broadly with you, H. North, but I think they’ve kept him for so long almost entirely because they think his booming style might harvest them a match-winning knock somewhere along the line in this series, on hard pitches against properly fast bowling. So it would waste all that previous angst by abandoning the gamble now. I say give him the next four Tests, then we’ll call the farm up-country.
11th over: England 51-1 (Duckett 22, Pope 22) Starc will be replaced, after five overs. Australia desperately need Boland to lift today. He only bowled ten overs on day one, he should be fresh, but he hasn’t been effective. Nice seam movement to beat Pope’s drive here. That’s the Boland method, subtle shifts in line. A couple of singles.
“Doggett and Duckett should open a pub together when they retire.”
The Dog and Duck, Tom! Great shout. The coat of arms could be the characters from the original Nintendo game.
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10th over: England 49-1 (Duckett 21, Pope 21) Australia, those in the north will be pleased to know, have gone to bits in that over. First, an overthrow lets Duckett get back for a second run. Next ball, off the pad, they scurry a leg bye and Weatherald, desperate to have some influence on the game, flings at the non-striker’s end and gives up an extra four. Finally, Doggett bowls more wide junk and Pope drives what should be four runs, except the AC/DC Memorial Outfield slows up the ball for three. Australian fielders give up four extra runs, Australian concert scheduling saves one.
11 from the over.
9th over: England 38-1 (Duckett 18, Pope 14) Duckett, whisper it, seems to be playing carefully against Starc. Perhaps even… seeing him off? Pope isn’t, essaying a huge drive that misses the lot, then getting his gloves tenderised next ball, before swishing and missing again. But he’s still there.
8th over: England 37-1 (Duckett 17, Pope 14) Here’s Doggett then, to give Boland a breather before Boland replaces Starc. Bowls wide, slashed away, but the bad ball should still have been saved. Except Lyon is back on the ground, and misses it running around from point. Gives up three.
No point for Duckett though, and he has a deep third and a fine leg as the only fielders back. Happy to encourage him to play in that direction, but instead he tucks to leg for one.
Pope has three slips, gully, point, cover, mid off, mid on, midwicket, fine leg. So he cuts through the gap in the cordon for four! Doggett too short and too wide so far.
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7th over: England 29-1 (Duckett 16, Pope 11) Starc has it swinging a bit, on this overcast day. Cuts Pope in half, over the stumps as he misses the drive, then beats him for pace to give up a leg bye off the bat. Finds the thick outside edge of Duckett’s bat for a couple of runs through point. Starc is on top of them, but can’t finish them off. That’s the fourth over in his spell, can’t imagine he’ll bowl more than six.
“It was an amazing catch, but it should not mask the fact that Crawley was once again out driving on the up,” emails Adam Levine. “Rob Key has barely put a foot wrong since taking over but his blind spot via-à-vis Crawley is utterly mystifying.”
Being surprised that Crawley drives on the up is like being surprised by Phar Lap running on four legs. Not that I’m comparing their success rate, but yes, it’s what he does. Getting picked to do it is puzzling, but if it spares us from watching the techniques of Burns, Sibley and the like, I say pick him for the next 10 years.
6th over: England 26-1 (Duckett 14, Pope 11) Nothing extravagant in that Boland over, Pope flicking three to midwicket, both batters trading singles. For a brief moment it looks like normal cricket.
5th over: England 21-1 (Duckett 13, Pope 7) Very early days, but it feels like England are getting back on top here. You can get Crawley cheaply twice, but Duckett has a knack of making scores, it feels like he’ll get a few in at least one of his two hits each match. Pope helps them see off another over of Starc, picking up a couple of runs in the process.
4th over: England 18-1 (Duckett 13, Pope 4) They’re trying to go after Boland again. Not without risk at this stage, but after working a two and a three, Duckett runs down last ball of the over and throws his bat, skewing the ball over gully in risky fashion but picking up four more.
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3rd over: England 9-1 (Duckett 7, Pope 1) England living dangerously. Pope drives at Starc, inside edge past his leg stump down to fine leg for one. Duckett drives, slices it through the gap in the cordon for four. Then after adding a brace, Duckett cracks one to cover, straight to Labuschagne, who almost catches Pope napping at the non-striker’s end, immediately releasing the throw and not missing by much.
2nd over: England 2-1 (Duckett 1, Pope 0) Good start from Boland. Smacks Duckett on the gloves, then takes his edge, on the bounce to slip. A handy sub fielder, by the way: Beau Webster at third slip, all six-foot-fifteen of him, a good swap for the old stager Nathan Lyon. Khawaja is out there, no sign of back problems today. Duckett nudges a single, Pope adds a leg bye.
1st over: England 0-1 (Duckett 0, Pope 0) Again, Ollie Pope in early. Survives the first ball against Starc despite an lbw appeal.
WICKET! Crawley c & b Starc, England 0-1
Standing up tall, high backlift, Crawley waits for Mitchell Starc and… leaves the ball! Scandal. Drama. Nobody expected that. Thankfully he smokes the next one, but straight at mid off. Leaves the third ball. Almost offers a leading edge as he defends the fourth.
The fifth, though… the fifth. What an unbelievable catch! Mitchell Starc, you absolute star! Crawley pushes defensively, the bat twists in his hand, and the ball skews back towards the bowler. Not close to the bowler, though. He’s bowling over the wicket, left-arm, and the ball has gone towards the off side of the pitch for the right-hander.
But somehow, in the follow-through, Starc flings himself across space and time, like a flicked elastic, and just gets a hand to it. The ball sticks in that palm. Then as he falls, Starc cocks his wrist upwards, so his little finger stays under the side of the ball, and he keeps it sufficiently off the ground as his arm makes contact. They look at some replays but the catch is, remarkably, clean.
A pair for Crawley, and all three innings so far have had a wicket in the first over without a run on the board. Check the history books, please.
WHAT A RIDICULOUS TAKE! Mitchell Starc sends Zak Crawley off for a pair! #Ashes | #PlayoftheDay | @nrmainsurance pic.twitter.com/1cg8PtLzx4
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 22, 2025
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“Get ready for Crawley Mania. The Summer of Zak,” mutters my colleague Charlie Reynolds in the Perth press box. We’re all set.
England lead by 40 runs on the first innings
Remarkable to say that, after they were bowled out for 172 yesterday, but Australia’s batting was papier-mache and England’s bowling was the sprinkling of rain required to make it fall apart. What a wild tale.
Mitchell Starc is out there warming up, he’ll need another massive performance in the next two hours if Australia want to stay in the hunt. If England’s aggressive openers get away, this game could become very one-sided very quickly.
WICKET! Lyon c Duckett b Carse 4, Australia 132-10
A minor victory for the batting pair in having seen off Mark Wood, but the bowling change brings the more important victory for England, as Lyon drives at Brydon Carse and slices to gully. Done and done. England lead!
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45th over: Australia 132-9 (Lyon 4, Doggett 7) Another six balls faced for Doggett, for no profit this time. He leaves a few but heaves at a couple, once across the line, missing and hit on the body by Atkinson, then a big wafty uppercut that does nothing. He’s trying…
44th over: Australia 132-9 (Lyon 4, Doggett 7) The fact that the last pair are batting reasonably comfortably won’t make Australia feel good about bowling to England imminently. Doggett drives with some confidence at Wood. Mistimes it for a single to cover, but wasn’t afraid to get on the front foot. They’ve cut the deficit to 40.
43rd over: Australia 131-9 (Lyon 4, Doggett 6) And on it goes for Doggett. Another clunky drive, this time through mid on, gets him back for a second run. Fourth ball of the over he finally gets a reprieve, a single to cover. Atkinson bumps Lyon but the ball sails way over his head.
42nd over: Australia 128-9 (Lyon 4, Doggett 3) Lyon single first ball puts Doggett back on strike. Ohh, dropped catch! In at short leg, Pope under the mitre, and the ball reaches his fingertips but goes down rather than up. Mark Wood keeps peppering Doggett, who by the end of the over has faced every delivery so far today but two. The sixth ball he decides he’s had enough and aims a big drive, inside edges it, gets a run to fine leg, and keeps the strike.
41st over: Australia 126-9 (Lyon 3, Doggett 2) Now Doggett is off the mark! Gets a couple of runs through backward point, steering away Atkinson. Happy to come back and keep the strike too, and sees off the rest of the over.
40th over: Australia 124-9 (Lyon 3, Doggett 0) How’s this for a task first thing in the morning. Brendan Doggett, No 11 on debut, facing Mark Wood at a million miles an hour. He does a good job, though! Leaves one, blocks one, ducks the short one, and eventually adds a run to the total via his thigh pad. Not a run for him, though, he’s yet to get off the mark.
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Hello again. A very different morning today than it was yesterday. Cool, overcast, but the clouds are high and bright, so don’t worry, no chance of interruptions at least in the short term.
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There are grey skies around Perth Stadium as we close in on the start of day two but play is expected to begin on time in 10 minutes or so. Nathan Lyon and Brendan Doggett will seek to carry Australia closer to England’s first innings total of 172, while the tourists lead by 49 runs and need one wicket to bat again.
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Mitchell Starc didn’t quite play a lone hand for Australia, but the hosts were well short of the five star quicks that England rolled out on day one in Perth. Simon Burnton looks at how Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Brydon Carse and, of course, captain Ben Stokes hunted as a pack to turn the first Test on its head.
There is a strong argument that Ben Stokes should have made a different choice at the toss and immediately unleashed his barrage of fast bowlers at Australia’s openers, an out-of-sorts Usman Khawaja approaching his 39th birthday and a 31-year-old debutant in Jake Weatherald.
As it turned out, his decision did not delay that moment for long, the tourists bowled out for 172 inside 33 overs. This turn of events may have brought England’s supporters down to earth, but it inspired their players to reach for the stars.
The Ashes opened with Mitchell Starc putting Australia in a position of strength while sending another reminder that he is more than just a member of a fast and furious trio. Geoff Lemon was at Perth Stadium to witness the left-arm quick’s career-best seven for 58.
Starc did not pick up wickets in a kamikaze burst, but with consistent quality over a dozen overs split into two lengthy spells, the second of which was cut in half by the lunch break.
Without much swing, with decent carry but no obvious weapons for a bowler, he was consistently above 140kmh (87mph), constantly at his opponents with barely a loose delivery. It might well have been his highest-quality performance on a surface good for batting.
If you missed the remarkable day one of the first Test, or just want to relive what was the highest of drama, Ali Martin reported on all the action from Perth Stadium.
Not since Old Trafford in 1909, when 20 batters were sent packing, have more wickets fallen on the first day of an Ashes Test. There were 19 here, a fast-bowling festival, and those England supporters back home who woke up midway through could have been forgiven for feeling a bit played.
An initial collapse to 172 all out in 32.5 overs by the tourists must have been like discovering a horse’s head in the bed, reason to once again bemoan the excesses of so-called Bazball. But Ben Stokes (five for 23) and his fellow quicks then delivered a far more instructive message, reducing Australia to 123 for nine by stumps and inflicting a good few bruises to go with it.
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Have we all got our breath back? That was an absolutely nonsense, absurd, bizarre opening day: 19 wickets in a Test day in Australia that only contained about 70 overs. Can nobody remember how to bat anymore? Was the pitch too difficult? The answer is no, not really, because some players do still bat for long periods of time elsewhere, and the surface had some pace and bounce but nothing inconsistent or unplayable. It’s just that nobody played it well, against some decent fast bowling.
So we’re almost 50% of the way through the match in scoreboard terms, in 20% of the allotted days and 16.4% of the allotted overs. Holy balance sheet, Robin.
Australia trail by 49 runs! After bowling out England for 172! The last pair will resume, but we’re not imagining that Lyon and Doggett will add a lot with the bat. Then, it will be Shootout No.2.
Don’t look away from the match today, there may not be much left of it by tomorrow.
