Browsing: Ashes

Jofra Archer has been criticised by former Australia opener Matthew Hayden for the “shocking look” of arriving for the third day of the second Ashes Test with a pillow.

With England needing four wickets to wrap up the Australia first innings in order to keep their Ashes hopes alive, fast bowler Archer was seen before play at the Gabba with a pillow tucked under his arm.

And the 30-year-old was made to wait for his rest as Australia frustrated England throughout the entire opening session.

Though the hosts lost two wickets, they moved to 450-8 by the interval, leading by 116 runs.

Only twice before have England overturned a first-innings deficit of more than 100 to win a Test in Australia. The last time was at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1979.

“I’m sorry, but that’s a shocking look,” Hayden, who played 103 Tests, said on Channel 7.

“If I was a batsman, I tell you what I’d be doing, I’d be digging in. Forever.

“It would be exactly what you need as a batsman, I can tell you. You’d be looking over and thinking ‘you are never going to sleep on that’.

“Not any part of this day are you going to see that. Not even in the night are you going to see that.”

After Australia resumed on 378-6, England captain Ben Stokes had Michael Neser caught behind for 16.

England took the second new ball at 80 overs, with Gus Atkinson taking the edge of Alex Carey for 63.

Archer shared the new ball with Atkinson, bowling five wicketless overs and conceding 13 runs.

And England could not find a way to part ninth-wicket partnership Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland. The pair added 34 runs in 16 overs in the run-up to the break. Starc had moved to 46 and Boland seven.

The extra time spent batting in daylight is vital for Australia. It means England will be facing a newer ball when they bat under floodlights later on Saturday.

England’s deflating opening to the third day came after an error-strewn performance on Friday, when the tourists missed five chances in the field.

Former captain Michael Vaughan questioned their preparedness for this Ashes series, saying England looked “jaded”.

Archer returned to Test cricket in the home summer after a four-year lay-off because of a string of serious injuries.

The Sussex man had bowled 25 overs by the first interval on the third day in Brisbane, his second-most in a Test innings since 2019 – beaten by the 26.1 he bowled in the first innings of the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford, the second match of his comeback.

On Friday, Archer bowled a seven-over spell immediately after the first interval – his longest uninterrupted spell in Test cricket for five years.

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Joe Root of England (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) England captain Joe Root remains confident about his team’s chances in the day-night second Ashes Test, despite Australia gaining a 44-run advantage on day two in Brisbane.Root’s outstanding knock of 138 not out, his first century in Australia, helped England reach 334 in their first innings.Australia responded strongly, reaching 378-6 by the end of play. The hosts benefited from England’s imprecise bowling and missed catching opportunities on a pitch showing signs of wear.”It’s clear we weren’t at our best… but we took those wickets in a cluster, which shows the nature of this game,” Root told TNT Sports, referring to Brydon Carse removing Cameron Green and Steve Smith within four deliveries.”More work to do, but we’re well and truly in this game. It is different fielding to a pink ball, we practise really hard, just one of those days when things didn’t stick to hand. We’ll keep backing ourselves. We need to take four wickets,” he added.”It’s a simple game. Energy and positivity. We know our best cricket can turn a game very quickly. If we are anywhere near our best this game can turn in our favour.”Root celebrated his 40th Test century, marking a significant milestone in his career.”I tried not to approach anything different to the last couple of years,” he said. “Any time you contribute in an Ashes it means a huge amount. The most enjoyable thing was to get into a position to get us in the game.”

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Joe Root insisted England worked as hard as they could to be ready for the day-night Ashes Test, despite missing five chances on the second day at the Gabba.

The tourists face an uphill task to stay in the match and the series after Australia closed on 378-6 – 44 runs ahead.

Four of the chances England missed came in the night session under the floodlights in Brisbane.

England rarely play pink-ball Tests – this is their eighth, compared to Australia’s 15th. Whereas Australia annually include a day-night Test in their schedule, England have played only one since their last visit to this country four years ago.

After losing the first Test inside two days, England opted not to send any of their XI from Perth to a day-night England Lions game against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra.

Ben Stokes’ side instead had five training session in Brisbane, two of which were under floodlights.

“We worked as hard as we could,” said England batter Root. “We did a huge amount of catching and making sure we utilised those two sessions under lights well.

“Sometimes the catches just don’t stick. You’ve got to keep applying yourself and wanting the ball so you’re ready when that next opportunity comes. That’s one of the nuances of the game and this pink-ball Test match.”

However, former England captain Michael Vaughan told the Test Match Special podcast no amount of fielding drills can replicate match practice.

“I would have done things completely differently,” said Vaughan, who led England to victory in the 2005 Ashes. “What I saw today was a team that looked jaded.

“These fielding drills – they’re fantastic, but you know the ball is coming to you. In a game, you have no clue when it is coming to you and it is completely different.

“The art of taking chances is concentration. If you’re not out there on a regular basis practising for many hours, when that chance comes you have to be concentrating to take that opportunity. The only way you get good at that is by training the brain to do it.”

When this point was raised with Root, he countered: “It’s never going to be perfect. All you can do is give yourself the best possible chance and I think we’ve done that.

“In the lead-up to this game we’ve got used to conditions, we’ve got used to the heat, we got used to the surfaces. We’ve caught under lights, we’ve caught in daylight and tried to catch in twilight as well.

“We’re not perfect, we’re all human and we’re going to make mistakes.”

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Carse, usually so reliable, had been as guilty as anyone of spraying the ball around Brisbane – he conceded 113 runs from his 17 overs.

And it was indicative of England’s situation that the Durham man was asked to bowl a spell of bouncers in the night session, when usually the floodlights would offer the kind of movement to encourage orthodox seam bowling.

With Green stepping back to flay an expected short ball, he was bluffed by a Carse yorker that splattered the stumps. From the next ball, Carey gloved a venomous lifter, only for Ben Duckett to grass the vital catch moving forward from gully.

Still, in the same over, Carse got the crucial wicket of Smith thanks to Jacks’ moment of magic. Smith tried to drag a pull around the corner only for Jacks, at backward square leg, to fling himself to his right and cling on with his right hand.

Inglis and Carey countered, boundaries continued to flow and Duckett put down another chance – this time Inglis at gully off the bowling off Stokes. Three balls later, Stokes removed Inglis’ middle stump.

There was still time for England to create two more chances, and for Carey and Neser to add 49 from only 55 balls.

Neser, on six, drilled Jofra Archer to cover where Carse failed to cling on. Carey had 25 when he slashed Gus Atkinson between Smith and first-slip Joe Root. Root dived to his right, but it was the static Smith who should have made the effort.

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Australia have moved into a position to win the second Ashes Test after a dominant performance on day at The Gabba.

Resuming on 325-9 after an epic last-wicket stand, England had momentum, even through only adding nine more runs at the start of the day.

However, Australia wasted no time in swinging the game back in their favour, racking up 378-6 off just 73 overs to move 44 runs ahead by stumps.

Like on day one, England had their moments, particularly in the evening session under the lights when Brydon Carse dismissed Cameron Green (45) and Steve Smith (61) in four balls.

Will Jacks pulled off one of England’s greatest-ever catches to play his part in Smith’s wicket, but England put down four catches throughout the day in Brisbane.

STEVE SMITH IS OUT! ?

What a take from Will Jacks! ?

Watch #TheAshes LIVE on TNT Sports and discovery+ ? pic.twitter.com/mADph0XIMY

— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 5, 2025

That contributed to each of Australia’s top eight batsmen all reaching double figures as they made light work of the England bowling attack.

Travis Head made 33 from 43, Jake Weatherald hit 72 from 78 and Marnus Labuschagne recorded 65 from 78 to keep the score ticking over during the first phase of the innings.

Alex Carey – who was dropped first ball – made 46 from 45 late in the day, with Josh Inglis making 23 from 25 and Michael Neser an unbeaten 15 from 30.

Carse’s 3-113 came off just 17 overs with Ben Stokes taking the same amount of overs for his 2-92. While Jofra Archer was most economical, he only posted 1-74 from 20 overs.

Based on their history of capitulations, England will return on Saturday with the first objective being to save the game.

With Australia in line to significantly extend their lead before England facing a session under the lights, it is far from certain that the game will be extended to a fourth day.

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Will Jacks flying one-handed under the Brisbane lights.

The batter was the great Steve Smith. The ball was behind him.

Surrey all-rounder Jacks clung on and England’s fans roared in belief that a fightback may be possible in the second Ashes Test.

“This is as good of a catch as I’ve ever seen,” said former England captain Michael Vaughan on BBC Test Match Special.

“Oh my word! It doesn’t get any better than that, that’s a piece of incredible movement from Jacks.”

The catch itself – the athleticism to dive at leg gully and take the ball in his right hand – was impressive.

It was even more special given the moment.

Two balls earlier Ben Duckett had dropped Alex Carey.

Brydon Carse had dismissed Cameron Green earlier in the over but, with the score 292-4, Smith remained and there was an unavoidable feeling a chance may have been missed.

Jacks, who leaped into the arms of a wide-eyed Joe Root, ensured England would be celebrating after all.

Australia remain in a strong position, and may still go 2-0 up in Brisbane, but the game felt alive again.

“Will Jacks, take a bow,” said former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior said on TNT Sports.

“That is an outstanding catch.

“It is exactly what we were talking about – the fielders getting behind the bowlers.

“He had to cover a huge amount of ground and he throws out a claw. It is an outstanding catch.”

It was the bright spot for England in the field on day two with Duckett later dropping Josh Inglis, Carse spilling Michael Neser and Root getting fingertips to a Carey drive.

All of this came after Jamie Smith dropped Travis Head early in the innings.

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This is an important series for Smith, playing in an Ashes for the first time. He was promoted to the England team at the beginning of the 2024 summer at the expense of Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow with this tour in mind.

Smith has made an exceptional start to his Test career. Before the Test at the Gabba he averaged almost 47 with the bat. His glovework has often been tidy.

But there have also been signs that the 25-year-old has some challenges to overcome.

Since making a stunning 184 not out and 88 in the second Test against India in July, then following up with 51 in the first innings of the third Test at Lord’s, Smith’s highest score in seven knocks is 33.

He looked increasingly lethargic as the India series wore on, with both his batting and keeping suffering as a result.

The Surrey man was in uncharted territory in a series where each of the five Tests went to the final day.

Because he is not the first-choice keeper for his county – Foakes takes the gloves at The Oval – he was experiencing a workload like never before.

This Ashes will be similar – another five-Test series. Yes, the first Test in Perth was over in only two days, but there are other challenges to throw to a keeper in Australia.

The steep bounce and true carry should be an advantage, yet takes some getting used to, and the fearsome heat can be sapping.

The edge off Head appeared to take Smith by surprise. It was a superb delivery from Archer, nipping away from round the wicket. In a spell where Archer averaged 89.3mph, he got one to leap at Head, and the ball was still on the rise when it got to Smith.

Moving to his left, Smith got both hands to the ball, only to parry in the direction of the slips, who could not grab the rebound.

“That was a beauty from Archer, it went quickly to Jamie Smith but you’ve got to take those chances,” said former England captain Michael Vaughan on Test Match Special.

Former wicketkeeper Matt Prior, part of the England team when they won the Ashes in Australia in 2010-11, said on TNT: “It’s the worst place in the world to be, having just dropped that catch.

“He didn’t do a lot wrong. He got done for a bit of pace, a bit of extra bounce here at the Gabba. It hit him quite high on the gloves.

“That’s a chance you’d want to be taking more times than not.”

According to data analysts Cricviz, Smith’s glovework stands up to other keepers in Test cricket.

This was only the fourth drop of his career, having held 54 previous chances. Smith has a 93% catching efficiency in Tests and for all wicketkeepers in Tests since the start of 2024, the efficiency is around 89%.

Interestingly, of the four drops in his Test career, three of them have been against left-handers.

Smith is also playing in a pink-ball match of any kind for the first time.

The debate over whether England should have sent more players to a floodlit match between England Lions and a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra in the weekend before this Test was tempered by the vastly different conditions in Brisbane when compared to the capital.

While Smith has had five training sessions with the pink ball in the run-up to this Test – two of them under lights – he was out for a second-ball duck in England’s first innings and dropped the first chance that came his way.

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Root has been adamant that a personal milestone means very little if England do not return home with the Ashes. He’s right, obviously, but the more runs Root scores, the more likely England are to regain the urn.

On this occasion, his 135 and counting has given England a sniff of a first win in Brisbane since 1986, a first win in a day-nighter in this country and a first win of any kind in Australia since 2011.

Root has been present for 16 winless Tests since his first tour in 2013-14.

On that occasion he was the prodigy in a team that fell apart, dropped for the only time in his Test career for the final match in Sydney.

Four years later, as captain and back at the same ground, Root ended up in hospital after batting in 43-degree heat at the end of a 4-0 series defeat.

Another four years on, Root was in hospital again, this time after taking blows to the unmentionables in the day-night Test in Adelaide.

That 2021-22 series, another 4-0 defeat over which Root presided, was the beginning of the end for his captaincy. He had to watch his team be subjected to suffocating Covid restrictions.

This is probably Root’s last trip to Australia for an Ashes series. England visit again in 15 months for the 150th anniversary Test, but Root will be almost 39 the next time the urn is contested in this country.

Before the thunderous Thursday in Brisbane, no visiting top-order batter had played as many as Root’s 29 innings without registering a century in Australia.

Australians demand success against Australia to bestow respect upon an opposing player.

Darren Lehmann, Root’s former coach at Yorkshire and his host at an academy in Adelaide said he would not have Root in the “all-time great” category while three figures in Australia remained elusive.

When Root landed in Perth last month, the West Australian newspaper splashed him across its front page with the headline “Average Joe” because of the absence of an Australian ton.

Now Lehmann, the West Australian, Kylie Minogue, Chris Hemsworth and Bluey the dog must acknowledge Root as an all-timer.

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Joe Root finally made a century in Australia to keep England afloat on a riveting first day of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane.

With the day-night conditions fuelling the theatre, Root, who was dropped on two, tickled Scott Boland for four to reach three figures in Australia at the 30th attempt.

It sparked delirious celebrations in the rowdy corner of English support at the Gabba, while Root simply removed his helmet and shrugged his shoulders in the direction of the visitors’ dugout.

Despite Mitchell Starc ripping through England once more with 6-71, Root reached 135 not out – adding an unbroken 61 in a riotous last-wicket stand with Jofra Archer – to lift the tourists to 325-9.

Root arrived in the daylight, only 15 balls into the match, as England threatened an implosion to equal their first-Test defeat at 5-2.

Starc was electric, taking both wickets with his first nine balls. The left-armer remained a menace throughout the day, leading the attack as Australia again went without captain Pat Cummins and left out off-spinner Nathan Lyon in a home Test for the first time since 2012.

Root rebuilt in a stand of 117 with Zak Crawley, the opener impressive for his much-needed 76. Root also added 54 with Harry Brook, whose inexplicably loose drive at Starc’s second ball in the twilight made so much of England’s day a struggle.

England had to grind under the lights. Ben Stokes took 49 balls over 19 before he was run out asking Root for a non-existent single. When Jamie Smith was bowled by Boland for England’s third duck of the day, the tourists were teetering again at 211-6.

Will Jacks steadied with Root, only to chase an edge off Starc when Root had 98. In the next over, amid almost unbearable tension, Root had his Australian moment at last.

There was still time for Root and Archer to flay the weary Australia attack in 44 balls of mayhem before the close. Archer is 32 not out from 26 deliveries.

Archer clubbed two sixes, while Root celebrated his ton with a trademark reverse-scoop off Boland for a maximum of his own. It was tremendous fun at the end of a nerve-shredding day.

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Joe Root has finally recorded an Ashes century in Australia to help England edge an absorbing opening day of the second Test in Brisbane.

England’s greatest batsman came to the crease with his team on 5-2 after just 2.3 overs with Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope both being dismissed by Mitchell Starc for ducks.

However, with England’s backs against the wall and aided by some timely knocks from several teammates, Root compiled a magnificent 135 from 202 balls to take the tourists to 325-9 at stumps after the first three sessions of the day/night Test.

On his 30th attempt, Root reached the milestone that has defied him throughout his career, making three figures for the 40th time in Tests.

WHAT A MOMENT ?

JOE ROOT FINALLY HAS HIS FIRST CENTURY IN AUSTRALIA! ??

? Watch #TheAshes LIVE on TNT Sports and discovery+ pic.twitter.com/5kggVrFowl

— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 4, 2025

Root, Archer frustrate Australia skipper Smith

Nevertheless, it will be Root’s and Jofra Archer’s epic unbeaten 61-run stand for the last wicket that will make the headlines after Australia captain Steve Smith appeared to purposely slow the game down to reduce the chances of his openers having to face the pink ball late in the day.

Such was the shamelessness of the ploy that it became acceptable at one point for Ben Stokes, like he has done in the past, to declare on a below-par score with the view of progressing the game and taking a chance to make early inroads.

Instead, England went on the attack as Archer combined power and composure to make 32 off 26 – his best-ever Test knock – to contribute to England’s best-ever 10th wicket partnership at The Gabba in just 7.2 overs.

Jofra Archer just hitting sixes for fun out there ??

? Watch #TheAshes LIVE on TNT Sports and discovery+ pic.twitter.com/00DWVm58Vh

— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 4, 2025

Once England got within 10 minutes of the close, it was Root’s and Archer’s turn to slow down the game, but there will likely be ramifications for both teams after a full day of Test cricket only featured 74 overs.

Crawley justifies England faith

Earlier in the day, Zak Crawley bounced back from a pair of ducks in Perth with a superb 76 off 93, the kind of innings that Stokes and Brendon McCullum demand.

Harry Brook made 31 off 33, Stokes made 19 before running himself out and Will Jacks also added 19 ahead of becoming one of Starc’s six victims.

While the course of the game remains very much in the balance, England will claim a moral victory ahead of their attempt to stay ahead of Australia on day two.

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