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England head into Thursday’s day-night second Ashes Test against pink-ball masters Australia needing a rare victory at Brisbane’s Gabba to get back into the five-match series.Travis Head’s whirlwind century as a makeshift opener carried Australia to an eight-wicket victory inside two days in Perth as they went 1-0 up. The hosts are again without captain Pat Cummins and fellow quick Josh Hazlewood, leaving swing king Mitchell Starc, who is expected to be a force in humid Brisbane under lights, to carry the attack. England, who capitulated in four frantic hours in Perth from a winning position, cannot afford to slip 2-0 down with three matches to play if they are to have realistic hopes of regaining the urn. They will be without their own pace spearhead, Mark Wood, who is nursing a knee injury. He was replaced by off-spinner Will Jacks, who will bolster the batting, in an otherwise unchanged team named Tuesday. All-rounder Jacks has played in two previous Tests and claimed a five-wicket haul on debut against Pakistan in 2022. He has mainly been used by England in white-ball cricket. “Everyone knows what a brilliant cricketer he is,” England batsman and Jacks’ Surrey team-mate Ollie Pope told reporters. “The way he’s grown over the last few years, we’ve seen his white-ball game really go forward. It’s a great opportunity for his red-ball, too. “He’s obviously got that style of spin bowling where he can get some bounce and turn off the pitch, then everyone has seen the skills he’s got in the white-ball format. “He can take on a really good attack.” Captain Ben Stokes says England have moved on from Perth and are not scarred by past results but they face a formidable weight of history in Brisbane, where they have been holding extra training sessions this week. England have not won a Test in Australia since their 2010-11 tour, losing 14 and drawing two. Moreover, they have not triumphed at the Gabba for 39 years and have lost all three previous day-nighters against the hosts. Day-night specialists Australia thrive under lights, winning 13 of the 14 pink-ball Tests they have played worldwide, but England will take encouragement from the sole defeat coming at the Gabba against the West Indies a year ago. “On an evening it does seem to do a little bit more, especially if you have a slightly newer ball,” said England fast bowler Brydon Carse after a night session in the nets Tuesday.Steve Smith captains Australia, who must decide how to fill the opening slot vacated by Usman Khawaja who was ruled out Tuesday after failing to recover from back spasms suffered in Perth. “Khawaja will remain with the team to continue his rehabilitation. He has not been replaced in the squad,” said Cricket Australia. Khawaja batted for 30 minutes in the practice nets Tuesday evening but the left-hander appeared to be in discomfort. Head is likely to again move up alongside Jake Weatherald, with seaming all-rounder Beau Webster coming into the side at number six with Cameron Green moving up to five.Paceman Scott Boland had sympathy for Khawaja. “It’s hard because he’s put in a lot of work since the last game just trying to get his body right but he hasn’t come up, unfortunately,” Boland told reporters. “I thought he looked pretty good in the nets, but he must have thought in himself that he wasn’t ready to go.” Marnus Labuschagne filled in as an opener for Khawaja in the first innings at Perth. “It’s just game-by-game, and you work out what’s your best team and how does it best work for the game,” said Labuschagne. Australia also have the option of bringing in Josh Inglis to open, leaving Head at number five where he would not have to face a new pink ball under lights. Head, who stunned England with a match-winning 123 from 83 balls, said he would be ready to move up again, adding that fixed batting orders were “slightly overrated”. “The traditionalists will say that’s how it’s got to be,” Head said. “It’s ever evolving and we’ll see where we get to. I feel I can play in any role.” SQUADS Australia: Steve Smith (capt), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster England: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer. 

Australia’s Ashes match-winner Travis Head said he was wary of inciting England’s fast bowlers as he slogged his way to a stunning century in the first test in Perth. Head’s brilliant 83-ball 123 as a makeshift opener in the second innings helped Australia seal an eight-wicket win in two days and give the hosts a 1-0 lead. He told Australian radio station Triple M Thursday that he feared he might make the English bowlers angry with him too early in the five-Test series. “I’m also very realistic as well that they had two blokes bowling 150 clicks,” Head said. “I accidentally hit Jofra (Archer) back over his head for six at one point and calmly walked back and marked centre and was like, ‘Oh my god, why did I just do that?’” Head said he had to calm batting partner Marnus Labuschagne who got too excited with his shot-making. “Marnus came down and (he) was like, ‘I know you’re trying to act cool, but that’s unbelievable’. And he’s yelling and screaming, and he’s hoo-hah-ing. “And I’m like, ‘Mate, get back to the other end, at any moment they can put a hole through me, they bowl 150 clicks’.” Head said he was touched to get a congratulatory text message from former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist who scored the fastest Ashes century with a 57-ball century at the WACA in 2006.Head reached his hundred in 69 balls, the second fastest. “He messaged me and said, ‘Well done.’ He was very proud,” said Head. “I messaged him back and said, ‘How the hell did you do it quicker? In 50-odd balls?’. “He said he got a very tight attack on a very hot day in Perth.” England’s light preparations for the series have drawn criticism, as has their decision to not send any of their Perth 11 for practice in a two-day pink ball match against the Prime Minister’s XI side in Canberra. The second Test at the Gabba, which starts December 4, will be a day-night Test with the pink ball. Head said he could see why England had chosen not to bother with the Canberra match. “You can either ... change the script and say, ‘We’re going to train’, or you can double down and go, ‘Nup, we’ve had this planned out, we know exactly how we want to go for five tests’,” he said. “You’ve got to respect the fact they’ve been a bloody good team, and I reckon they’ve got their plans ... and they’re doubling down. “Credit to them, they’re going to live by the sword or die by the sword, and we’ll see where we’re at in Brisbane.” 

Matt Renshaw’s confidence is soaring amid a golden start to the Australian summer but the Queenslander is not holding his breath for an Ashes recall while Usman Khawaja remains in contention at the top of the order. Left-handed opener Renshaw made a sparkling 112 for Queensland against Victoria in a day-night Sheffield Shield match at Brisbane’s Gabba over the weekend as Test selector Tony Dodemaide looked on. With Australia to play England in the day-night second test at the Gabba next week, Renshaw’s pink ball form is timely given Khawaja’s struggles with back spasms during the Ashes opener in Perth. Renshaw has played 14 Tests for Australia and has mounted a strong case for selection with scores of 128, 29, 101 and 51 before his latest century. However, the 29-year-old was not holding much hope of facing England if Queensland teammate Khawaja proves his fitness. “He’s got an average over 40 in test cricket, he’s played 85 games, he’s one of our best batters,” Renshaw told reporters at the Australian PGA Championship pro-am in Brisbane on Wednesday. “He’s one of the best cricketers that Australia’s ever produced.” Though Australia won the Perth test by eight wickets in two days to take a 1-0 lead in the series, Khawaja’s back spasms disrupted the hosts, forcing a rejig to the batting order because he was off the field for too long for treatment during England’s innings. Marnus Labuschagne opened in his stead in the first innings while Travis Head scored a match-winning 123 in the second innings as a makeshift opener. Batting at number four, Khawaja was caught behind for two in the first innings and did not bat in the second. Khawaja, who will turn 39 next month, has had a lean run with the bat and reports he played three rounds of golf in the leadup to the Perth test were viewed dimly by pundits. Cricket Australia defended Khawaja’s golfing but former Australia paceman Mitchell Johnson was unimpressed, saying that Khawaja needed to have better preparation “at (his) age.” Khawaja mocked his critics by posting a picture of a golf course on his Instagram feed this week but he ended up pulling out of the pro-am at Royal Queensland on Wednesday, with Renshaw replacing him. If Khawaja is unfit for the second test starting on December 4, Renshaw could still miss out. Australia’s selectors may opt to retain Head as an opener with Jake Weatherald and pick another all-rounder like Beau Webster in the middle order. Australia coach Andrew McDonald said on Monday Head might be deployed again as a tactical second innings opener depending on the match situation. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said it was unlikely Khawaja would be dumped but having Head open regularly was worth considering. “(Selectors) would have to be chatting around it,” he told Australian media. “When you see what Travis did, it’s hard to argue against leaving him there.” 

Australia and England wrapped up their Ashes preparations today with the home side showing their hand with a pair of debutants while the visitors kept their final XI under wraps for the series-opening test. Injuries have torn up Australia’s best-laid plans twice in recent weeks but stand-in skipper Steve Smith was all calm as he confirmed that opener Jake Weatherald would face the new ball at Perth Stadium and paceman Brendan Doggett will slot into a depleted attack.The 31-year-old debutants may do little to reduce the ageing profile of the Australian squad but each offers something different on the menu for England.Initially sixth cab off the rank in Australia’s pace setup, Doggett will be thrown into the Ashes cauldron from today because of injuries to Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott.Aggressive left-hander Weatherald joins the more patient Usman Khawaja at the top of the order, having turfed Sam Konstas out of the position with his weight of domestic runs.Both the new boys face a baptism of fire against a team convinced by captain Ben Stokes that the urn England relinquished eight years ago is there for the taking.“Coming to Australia, playing against Australia, they’re a seriously good team,” Stokes told reporters Thursday. “Everyone, including myself, knows the record of England over the history of Ashes in Australia isn’t the best.“We’ve got an opportunity over the next two and a half months to write our own history,” he said.“We’ve obviously come with the goal and that goal is to get on that plane mid-January and return to England being Ashes winners.”The Perth Stadium curator has promised the wicket will be green, fast and bouncy but Stokes offered no thoughts on whether England would attack with four quicks or pick the specialist spinner, Shoaib Bashir, in their 11.“He was always going to be in the 12,” Stokes said. “We thought it was just about getting as many opportunities to bowl as possible. And we got to face him.”The decision may come later after a chat with coach Brendon McCullum, the skipper said.Pacer Mark Wood only sent down eight overs in the game last week before heading for scans on a hamstring niggle. He was cleared, but has barely played since knee surgery earlier this year. Stokes said he had no concerns about the 35-year-old, who was “flying”.“I know you guys say he only bowled eight overs in the game, but he’s been bowling for a long, long time,” he said.“He has always been someone who can just hit the ground running in the game, and he’s bowling rapid, which is good.”Australia had no hesitation picking spinner Nathan Lyon, who turned 38 on Thursday and embarks upon his eighth Ashes campaign.The man nicknamed “Goat” (Greatest Of All-Time) for claiming an Australian record 562 test wickets as an off-spinner would be hard to overlook at Perth Stadium where he has 29 wickets at an average of 20.86.“He’s done really well out here. He bowls nicely when the wicket’s bouncing,” said Smith.“So we’ll see how it pans out.”Smith will have Cummins keeping a close eye on proceedings and offering another calm voice in the dressing room.England will have travelling fans back in the terraces four years after they were barred from the deflating 2021/22 tour due to Australia’s stiff border controls during Covid.Touring in a Covid-restricted bubble, Joe Root’s England lost 4-0 for a second successive series.Only a few of the squad remain from that tour, leaving most in the current England setup free of the scarring. A tighter series is tipped even if the host nation would delight in another thrashing.“When battle lines are drawn on Friday, then I will certainly be hoping that it’s a 5-0 result in Australia’s (favour),” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on the eve of the opener.England have a mountain to climb to win back the urn for the first time in Australia since 2010/11, and they will be dodging flak from home fans and media all the way. Perth newspaper the Western Australian roasted England’s players as “arrogant Bazballing Poms” on its front page Thursday. Stokes said England would take things in their stride.“We know we’re going to be outnumbered ... and that’s going to be good fun.”

England captain Ben Stokes called Steve Smith and Joe Root the greatest batsmen of their generation Thursday and said keeping the Australian skipper quiet was crucial to winning the Ashes. Ahead of today’s first Test in Perth, Australia’s Smith and England’s Root share 24,020 Test runs between them and 75 centuries.But while Root is yet to score a ton on Australian soil and averages just 35.68, Smith has been potent at home. He averages an ominous 59.70 against England, including 18 hundreds.“Not too much has changed because he (Smith) just gets runs against us, doesn’t he?” Stoke said when asked if he had noticed any weakness to exploit.“That seems to be a constant – a serious player, has been for a very long time.“Him and Joe Root, neck-and-neck in my opinion in terms of the greatest batters of this generation.“You always want to come up with ways to try and keep the best players quiet. And that’s something that obviously we’re going to have to do.It’ll be a hard thing to be able to do,” he added.“But if we can keep Steve Smith, minus all the other guys in the batting order, quiet, then we’ve given ourselves a good chance to achieve in the goal that we want.”Smith will lead Australia for the third time this year in Pat Cummins’ absence when the Ashes get under way.The 36-year-old’s full-time reign as skipper came to an end over the South Africa ball-tampering controversy in 2018, but he has consistently filled in since.Sure to send a scare through the England camp, his average is an incredible 68.98 in his 40 Tests as Australia captain.Smith scored a century for New South Wales last month after not picking up a bat for six weeks, and said he was in a good place.“I’m pretty chilled,” he said. “I think I’ve learned a lot over my journey.“The last couple of times that I’ve stood in for Patty (Cummins) I’ve tried to be pretty relaxed and let the game play.“Obviously I’ve got to do it my own way out there and have my own style. But I’m a lot more relaxed these days, chilled, and you know, let the guys go about their work.”

Time in the middle and keeping their fast bowling unit injury-free topped England’s agenda as they wrapped up their only pre-Ashes practice match Saturday against a second-string England Lions at Lilac Hill in Perth’s north-east.The result being of no importance, a sporting Lions declaration on the final day of the three-day warm-up gave England’s first-choice batsmen just over two hours to chase 202, which they achieved with five wickets remaining.“The guys have all had a good three days out here,” said paceman Brydon Carse, who landed three wickets after recovering from a 24-hour bug.“The group of seamers have all got a decent amount of overs in and some of the batters have spent some time at the crease. Everyone is raring to go.” Number three batsman Ollie Pope backed up a first-innings century with a breezy 90 from the attacking ‘Bazball’ play-book, while Joe Root scored an unremarkable 31.Earlier, Ashes hopeful Jacob Bethell top-scored for the Lions with 70. England are in good spirits after fast bowler Mark Wood, who complained of hamstring stiffness on day one, was given the all-clear following scans.The visitors’ hopes in the opening Perth Test, starting on Friday, were further boosted with confirmation that Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood had been ruled out with a hamstring strain.“He’s obviously a massive bowler for Australia, I’m sure we’ll see some part of him throughout the series,” said Carse.The 34-year-old’s omission leaves Australia, who have also lost skipper Pat Cummins to injury, in disarray given that the two men have combined for 31 wickets in five tests at Perth Stadium, which is always conducive to pace and bounce.Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland will now have to shoulder a heavy workload, while South Australia’s Brendan Doggett is in line for his international debut.Seam-bowling all-rounder Michael Neser, who last played a Test in 2022, was promoted into Australia’s squad.

Captain Ben Stokes brushed off concerns about England's Ashes preparations on Wednesday, saying there was no way the squad could prepare in the same way touring teams of the past had, given the demands of the modern game.England great Ian Botham raised questions on Tuesday about the preparations for the opening test, which amount to a few days' squad training followed by an internal match in Perth before the series opener begins in the same city on November 21."I don't really know what we're supposed to do, to be honest," Stokes told reporters at Lilac Hill Park, where the internal match will begin on Thursday."The schedule is pretty jam packed to be able to sort of prepare how teams probably would have 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago, I think there's a lot of factors that have changed over the years in cricket."We've been preparing for this for a very long time. Come the 21st of this month, we know that we would've done everything that is possible that we could've done to be in the right place to go out there and hopefully start the tour how we want."PACE DUO BRING X-FACTORStokes said he was fit and raring to go with both bat and ball and was particularly looking forward to watching England pacemen Mark Wood and Jofra Archer at work."It's great to have the X factor that Jofra and Woody possess in terms of pace," he added."Woody's obviously got over his knee surgery that he had quite a while ago. He's overcome that and he's looking really, really good. Jofra has been out the park for two and a half years now, so it's great seeing those two flying in and sending some fastballs down there."While much of the focus has been on that duo, Stokes said there was plenty of other fast-bowling talent in the squad."It's not just about pace, it's about skill," he said."We're fortunate enough that we've got a battery of fast bowlers who not only bowl with good pace, but are also extremely skillful in any conditions."We feel that we picked a really, really good, strong bowling group that have complementary skills, that can support each other. It's going to be tough five games so it's nice having a battery of fast bowlers to choose from."Stokes said he had found the war of words that has already ignited around the series "quite funny" but had also warned some of the less experienced players how challenging it is to play an Ashes series Down Under."Coming to Australia for the Ashes is a lot different than anything else .... There's a lot more that goes on away from the cricket itself," Stokes said."It's just making everyone aware that's the case but making sure it's nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be scared of, and not to shy away from the opportunity that's in front of us."

Australia paceman Mitchell Starc has urged curators to prepare bowler-friendly pitches for the Ashes, warning against flattening surfaces to maximise five-day revenue as England's aggressive "Bazball" approach looms.Australia defeated India 3-1 in the last home summer on pitches that offered encouragement for batters and bowlers alike, and Starc said he hoped that would continue in the five-Test series against England. "I hope the groundsmen stick to their guns and prepare the wickets they want," Starc told Australian media. "If we are worried about five days of revenue then there's bigger problems at hand."Left-armer Starc took a four-wicket haul for New South Wales on a tepid Sydney Cricket Ground pitch on Monday in the Sheffield Shield match against Victoria. Though encouraged by his bowling in his first first-class match since July, Starc said the wicket would have played right into the England batters' hands. "Yeah no doubt. Especially if they’re pretty docile wickets like this," he said. "We know the way they're trying to play their cricket. We’ll worry about that next week."Starc, who recently quit T20I cricket to extend his career in Tests, said his bowling rhythm was back after a long layoff from red-ball cricket and he was building nicely for the Ashes series-opener in Perth starting on November 21."I think the break was a good thing, but I just tend to be someone who continuous bowling keeps in rhythm," said the 35-year-old. "I’ve just been speaking to (head coach) Ronnie (Andrew McDonald) then, I think I’ve sorted it out and now it’s just getting the engine going again."

Former England captain Ian Botham has raised questions about the team's lean Ashes preparations and whether the players will be ready to take on an entire nation backing Australia's bid to retain the urn.England did not have their full squad in Perth until last Sunday and will play one internal match before the series-opener starts in the Western Australian capital on November 21. All but one of Australia's Ashes squad, meanwhile, are warming up with the red ball in domestic Sheffield Shield matches around the country.A number of England's players played white-ball cricket in neighbouring New Zealand before arriving but Botham said touring teams traditionally needed time to adjust to Australian conditions. "It's not the way I would prepare," Botham told reporters in Melbourne Tuesday."I think historically you have to acclimatise when you come down here. You've got to remember there's 24mn people down here, not 11. And you have to take that on board. The ball does seems to get to you quicker (in Perth) and the light's different. You've got the 'Fremantle Doctor'; there's all kinds of things go into the melting pot."Joe Root-captained England played two internal matches against the England Lions before the last 2021/22 Ashes in Australia and lost the series 4-0. Botham expects a better outcome for Ben Stokes's team this time around, as long as they can avoid too many injuries."It's one of those big ifs," the 69-year-old said. "If England's bowlers can stay fit, which doesn't happen very often, and the captain can play a full part then I think England have a got a real chance."Botham said England could consider unleashing a four-prong pace attack against Australia, saying West Indies had done pretty well with a similar strategy in 2024 and split a two-test series 1-1 with Pat Cummins's team. "I think it's the right way. You want to be aggressive, come through and players, if they're not playing very well, don't like it in the ribs," he said. "So, yeah, it'll be interesting."Botham was speaking at a press conference looking ahead to the 150th anniversary Test between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from March 11-15, 2027. Governing body Cricket Australia is launching a ticket ballot on December 23 for the non-Ashes match, which commemorates the nations' first test in 1877 at the MCG.Australia beat England by 45 runs in the centenary match in 1977 at the stadium, with pace bowler Denis Lillee taking 11 wickets for the hosts and England number three Derek Randall named man of the match after scoring a second-innings 174.Greg Chappell, who captained Australia in the centenary Test, remembered having to "represent" England in back-yard matches against brother Ian, who played as Australia."It's hard to beat 150 years of history," Chappell said alongside Botham. "Sadly, we've been alive for half of it."