AUS VS ENG - 2nd Test, The Ashes, 2025-26

England 0-2 down in an Ashes series in Australia after 2 games. We have seen that countless times before. And everyone knows how that eventually turns out after the 5 matches. England have a mountain to climb from here. With Cummins back for Adelaide, Australia will be favorites to seal the series there. Will it be another 5-0? Too early to say but Australia would like to believe they are on track for that. England have all the questions to answer - their batting has not fired enough to give their bowlers a chance. They keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Will that change in Adelaide? We will see. Do join us for that one on the 17th of this month. For now that's it from all of us here. Lots of cricket on the site, so do check them out. Bye bye....

England becomes the first team to lose a D/N Test after scoring 300+ batting first.
Previous highest: 259/9 dec. by SA vs Aus in Adelaide in 2016

Steven Smith as stand-in skipper in Tests: Mat 11 | Won 8 | Draw 3 | Lost 0

England record at the Gabba
Mat 23 | Won 4 | Lost 14 | Drawn 5
Only once in the previous 22 attempts have England lost the Gabba Test and went on to win the Ashes: 3-1 in 1954/55.

This is the 15th instance of England being 0-2 down after first two Tests of an Ashes series Down Under. They ended up losing each of the previous 14 occasions, with the closest scoreline being 1-2 in the three-Test rubber in 1891/92.

Most Tests in an away country without a win
Joe Root – 16 Tests in Australia (14 X defeats, 2 X draws)
Kapil Dev – 15 Tests in Pakistan (5 X defeats, 10 X draws)

In the pre-Bazball era, Root had 25 hundreds of which only one came in a defeat. Since June 2022, five of his 15 centuries have come in losing causes.

Player of the Match in each of the first two Tests in an Ashes series
Ricky Ponting in 2006/07
Mitchell Johnson in 2013/14
Mitchell Starc in 2025/26
Each of the first two instances ended in 5-0 series wins for Australia.

Steven Smith (2/2): He (Neser) delivered. He obviously made our batting a little bit longer as well at number eight and what he did today and in the first innings was exceptional, I think. He offered something different to the other guys. We could bring the keeper up to the stumps and change the game that way, and the way he bowled today and last night was exceptional. I’m really pleased for him to get his first five-for. He’s been on a lot of tours, he’s worked really hard, so really pleased for him. He’s (Carey) a freak. Honestly, up to the stumps the ball just seems to end up in his hands. It hits the batter’s pad or something and it still ends up in his hands. He’s got no fear up there. He moves so well and his gloves are just sensational. That was one of the best keeping performances I think I’ve ever seen. Oh, I don’t know. It’s (Jacks' catch) got to be up there, I reckon. It's pretty tough when you’ve got a pink ball, the lights are on. I’m blindsided by Alex, I’m standing quite wide because Alex covers so much room, and then, yeah, just fortunately saw it late and got down to it and it stuck. It was obviously at a crucial time to break that partnership. So yeah, I’ll remember that one. Yeah all his. No, it (leading the side) has been fun. The last couple of games the boys have put on some terrific performances and done everything I’ve said. So, give it back to Patty (Cummins) and let him take it.

Steven Smith (1/2): Pretty chilled now, it was fun out there for a bit. Was a great day of cricket, the guys toiled really hard early on. Obviously a really good partnership with Stokesy and Jacksy there and once we broke that, we were able to go through and get them out and chase 60. Yeah, great day. I think the first two days were pretty even in terms of the conditions that we both faced. No one got a new ball at night in that first little bit and then I think the game turned for us when we were able to, you know, extend, everyone get into double digits. Unfortunately no one went on to make a big one, but particularly the tail batting for 50 overs and extending that time so we could get the new ball under lights and obviously do some damage last night was crucial for us. It was just a really good performance. It can be tricky with the pink ball. You’re almost never in at times. Sometimes it feels a little bit easy when the ball gets a bit soft and then, you know, you get a ball change or something, the lights come on, it speeds up a bit. It just changes really quickly and you’ve got to adapt and, it’s a tricky game at times. But I thought the guys being able to extend those partnerships and have a lot of 50-run stands really helped us in the game.

Ben Stokes (2/2): (On the communication in the middle) Yeah, lots of communication. We sit there and watch what's going out in front of us. We can see what Australia are looking to throw at us and what plans they're trying to bowl to and then it's up to us as players to be able to go out there with a plan on how to negate the threat. So, yeah, look, again, to me it just seems to be a constant theme at the moment that when the game is in a pressure moment, Australia keep outdoing us in those moments and they say Australia isn't the place for weak men. We're definitely not weak, but we need to find something because we're 2-0 down now, we've got three more games to go and, yeah, we need to sort. (Asked if his team can turn this around?) I absolutely believe in that dressing room. I have full belief in the players that are in there, the coaching staff and the people that are there to help make us better players and what else have we got to do? We know we've got to win these next three games. We have been 2-0 down before, so we know what we need to do and we ain't going to shy away from the battle that we've got in front of us. But, yeah, we do need to look at where things have gone wrong in these first two games and sort them out pretty quick if we want to get these Ashes back to England.

Ben Stokes (1/2): Yeah, obviously very disappointing. I think a lot of it comes down to not being able to stand up to the pressure of this game, this format. When the game is on the line in small passages we've been able to bring the game back into some kind of control and then we've let it slip away and we've done that again here this week. And it's very, very disappointing, in particular because of the ability of the players that we have in that dressing room. And, yeah, I think we need to think a bit harder and a little bit deeper about those moments and what we're taking mentally into those and overall just show a little bit more fight when it's needed. If I could put my finger on it (why this is happening), I would have been able to tell you. But, as I said, it's definitely not a skill thing because there's some incredibly gifted players in that dressing room and when you know it's not down to skill, you know, you've probably got to dig a little bit deeper and find out what the thing is that we sort of seem to keep doing in those big moments of the game. I think not being able to execute skill is something that you can live with because no one means to bowl away from the plan that we're trying to do. We knew exactly how we needed to bowl on that wicket and we weren't able to do it for a long enough period to put the Australian batsmen under pressure. That was evident in the way that Australia were able to score so quickly and so easily against us. I think Jofra set the tone very nicely actually when we first took the ball but then myself and Brydon (Carse) sort of let the game get away from us quite quickly. So, yeah, just not being able to execute what's needed not only with bat in hand but also with ball. Yeah, we're having some conversations that I'll be keeping in the dressing room.

Mitchell Starc | Player of the Match: Two wins, yeah. Can’t ask for much more. Well, I mean, it went a bit longer than the first Test, but a hard-fought one, I think, for both teams, glad to be on the right side of it. (How's the body holding up at this age?) It takes a little bit longer in the mornings at this age, but no, it’s still going okay. So hanging in there. We’ve sort of seen on this ground before, when the wicket’s this hard, you sort of see that pink ball go soft pretty early. As a bowling unit, bowled really well across both innings. Obviously, the batting in the first innings was key to get a lead there, and Ness (Neser) today was phenomenal. So really, really pleased for him at his home ground, in front of family. He was phenomenal today. (Preparations) I still try and do the same things, don’t I? It doesn’t take much to get ready to go. Still trying to bowl as quick as I can and hit the stumps every time. Just keep running in and see how we go. There’s no better incentive for bowlers than to bat as long as you can and not bowl anymore. So yeah, it was nice to put a bit of a partnership there. I think that’s, you know, you speak a little bit about the tactical side of pink-ball Test cricket, and we knew it was going to be better to bowl with the pink ball, the hard new pink ball, later in the day. To get through as long as we did with the bat, to put a partnership together with Scotty and then obviously Doggie (Doggett) for a little bit there at the end, was really key for us to push that bowling innings as far back as we could. And we saw late in the day we got those rewards. Fantastic to contribute as a lower order (batsman). I’m too old for that (being a proper all-rounder), yeah. I’m not sure how Stokesy (Stokes) and the guys do it as long as they do. I’ll enjoy an extra day to put my feet up and get ready for Adelaide.

Steven Smith: (Taking on Archer) I just felt right then, just to play a few shots. He was obviously bowling pretty quick to the short boundary behind. I thought I'd try and hit a few up and try and get a hold of a couple so yeah, we were in a nice spot there and tried to finish it quick. A little bit (instinctive when a 150kph ball is coming at you) and heard there was a bit of a storm coming around so I wanted to get it done and we had a few behind us so yeah, it was a chance to just play a few shots. It was a high percentage with the short boundary behind me so yeah, take it on. (On the exchange with Archer) It stays on the field (smiles). Nah, good banter. He's a good competitor, he comes harder, so it was good fun. Yeah, it was good (Test match). I thought the boys played exceptionally well. Our first innings batting, the tail I thought were unbelievable they were able to extend, I think the bottom four batted for 53 overs or something like that so it gave us the opportunity to get into the dark last night and to take six wickets last night got us right in front of the game, so they obviously had a really good partnership today, Jacksy and Stokesy and you never know what's going to happen with Stokesy still at the crease so yeah, great to see the back of them and only have 60 to chase.

19:32 Local Time, 09:32 GMT, 15:02 IST: Australia and their fine record in Pink-ball Tests continues. England through Root in the first innings batted well as the star player finally got a 100 in Australia. But on day 2, the wheels came off as England dropped 5 catches and allowed Australia to get away. And on day 3, Australia rode on Starc and Boland's batting to gain a precious 177-run lead. And then in the night session, they made the ball talk to all but seal the game. England were 6-down by stumps and still trailing. Despite a 3-hour rearguard from Stokes and Jacks today, it only delayed Australia's win. Neser plugged away on a line and length and got a fifer including the important wickets of Jacks and Stokes. He justified his selection over Lyon on his homeground. The target of 65 was finished off with Smith involved in a fiery battle with Archer. Smith's reactions at the end said it all - he was pumped and wanted to make a statement. Stay tuned for the post-match stuff...

Atkinson to Smith, SIX, an emphatic way to end the game. Look at Smith. He is pumped. Roars in delight and gees up Jake Weatherald too. As sson as he hit that, he let his emotions out. Knew he had middled that. A short delivery on the stumps, Smith goes on the back foot and pulls, it has the elevation to go all the way and crosses the cushions at the deep backward square-leg fence. Maybe Smith was expecting that short delivery, was ready for it. Australia go 2-0 up

Atkinson to Jake Weatherald, 1 run, full and wide outside off, Jake Weatherald throws the bat at that, the thick outside-edge flies wide of the cordon and finds third man, was at a catchable height too

Atkinson to Jake Weatherald, no run, full on off, angled in, Jake Weatherald gets forward to defend to mid-off

Atkinson to Jake Weatherald, FOUR, nice on-drive for four. Too full from Atkinson and angled in, Jake Weatherald gets forward and punches the on-drive well wide of mid-on, races away

Atkinson to Smith, 1 run, short of length on middle, Smith goes on the back foot and nudges it in front of mid-wicket and mid-on for one

Atkinson to Smith, no run, short of length on off, Smith gets forward and defends it back to Atkinson, a loud call of "not now" with those exaggerated movements to follow as Smith stares back at the bowler

Jofra Archer to Jake Weatherald, no run, 150.3kph, full and angled in on off, Jake Weatherald gets forward to push it to mid-on

Jofra Archer to Smith, 1 run, 148kph, length delivery on middle, Smith backs away and punches, the thick outside-edge flies to third man