Root silences ‘Average Joe’ jibes with first century in Australia

From “Average Joe” to England’s greatest: Joe Root answered all the insults about his batting in Australia with a shrug of his shoulders and a hundred that makes him the undisputed king of English batting.

On a sultry evening in Brisbane, a floodlit Gabba turned into Headingley on a sunny June afternoon as someone draped a Yorkshire flag over one of the advertising boards and cries of “Rooot” rang out to mark his first century in Australia.

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He celebrated modestly. No punching of the air or roar to the heavens; just a brief kiss of his England helmet and an apologetic gesture to his team-mates for all the previous near misses.

Despite the understated celebration, this meant the world to Root on a restorative night for a man who has experienced only dark, lonely moments on Ashes tours and had his stomach for batting in Australia questioned ever since setting foot in the country a month ago.

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Even at the age of 34 and with more Test runs than all but one man in the history of the game, he looked rattled this week after his nought and eight in the first Test, despite his protestations to the contrary.

He was hurt by the criticism of England, the charges of hubris, arrogance and cockiness. He also knew deep down his legacy would be tarnished if he failed to make a hundred on this, almost certainly his last Ashes tour. None of his team-mates mentioned it in his presence but recognised it was on his mind. “I would be amazed if it wasn’t in his head, for sure,” said Zak Crawley.

Now his reputation is fully adorned and his position as England’s greatest batsman of all time confirmed when considering his success in all conditions around the world.

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Of his 40 Test hundreds, none have been as brave as this. “Everyone sees the talent, but no one sees the inner steel he has as well,” said Crawley.

Because of the position of his team, coming in at five for two with the Gabba rocking, as well as the personal stakes, Root summoned up all his reserves of mental strength to save England’s Ashes campaign and deliver a masterclass.

In the final throes of the day, relieved of the burden, he swatted his first six in Australia, a reverse ramp off Scott Boland that added a Bazball touch to a Test century that was a classic of its kind.

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His 135 guided England to 325 for nine, the hard work capped by an entertaining last half hour stand of 61 with No 11 Jofra Archer that ran Australia ragged. No team has ever lost a pink-ball Test after scoring more than 260 in the first innings of the match. Root now has a chance to break another duck – his first win in Australia.

The next highest score was 76 from Crawley, another show of mettle under personal pressure, but there were again too many soft dismissals as pink-ball magician Mitchell Starc carried the Australian attack. He continued his hold over England with six for 71, moving past Wasim Akram as the left-arm quick with the most Test wickets.

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Steve Smith was the first to shake Root’s hand as he walked off at stumps, a respectful acknowledgement from one modern great to another of what had just occurred. With sweat dripping down his face, the ever-accommodating Root still stopped for a selfie with a fan on his way to the dressing room where grateful team-mates waited to toast his performance.

This was Root’s 30th innings in Australia on his fourth Ashes tour and 12 years since he first played at the Gabba with the world at his feet as a fresh-faced 22-year-old.

The harsh realities of Ashes touring hit home quickly. His first tour was the Mitchell Johnson whitewash of 2013-14 when he was dropped for the only time in his career, his second (and first as captain) ended with him on a drip in hospital in Sydney and his most recent was leading a hiding-to-nothing 2021-22 tour.

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When he failed in Perth and England folded in a whirl of loose shots, the mood was as black as it had ever been on Root’s previous trips. He was too impetuous in the first Test, too keen to make an early statement in the series which showed the pressure was starting to affect a man thought to be unflappable.

He set a new unwanted record as the batsman to have played the most innings in Australia without a hundred, his highest score a lone hand 89 at the Gabba four years ago.

But Root is a serious student of the game, a man who lives for batting. He spent the 12 days between Tests working out where he went wrong. He told the media on Sunday: “I know I am a good player,” a message to himself as much as everyone else.

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He was far more watchful outside off stump, ignored the tempters and waited to pick Australia off when they bowled straighter or on his pads. It was risk-free batting and more importantly, he exuded calm even as England lost wickets in clusters and a very workmanlike Australia attack threatened to steal the day.

He was there for England at two pivotal moments. After Starc knocked over Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for ducks in the first 12 minutes of play and when he later returned to remove Harry Brook, as England wobbled in the twilight.

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It was agonising in the 90s. Root provided a couple of heart-stopping moments with plays and misses. He was sent back for a risky single on 96 that threatened to ruin all the hard work.

He needed a gift and it was provided by Boland. A leg stump delivery was clipped for four and the weight of the world lifted off Root’s shoulders.

In the final half hour, he had fun providing some glorious strokes as Archer heaved his highest Test score and Boland was walloped for 19 in an over; the Australians resorting to time-wasting tactics on a woeful day for over rates.

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Their decision to leave out spinner Nathan Lyon for the first time at home in 12 years left Australia predictable and reliant on batsman error – there were plenty of those.

Duckett prodded at his first ball tamely and Pope wafted an angled bat and played on as if he had learnt nothing from the bounce in Perth. Starc had his tail up but Crawley showed great mental strength, batting on a pair in the first Test.

He left well and picked off fours and lined up much better, waiting for Australia to come to him rather than chase wide balls. The 117-run stand with Root brought the first period of serenity to England’s tour.

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It did not last. Crawley under-edged a half tracker from Michael Neser, Brook dropped England in trouble when he drove hard at the second ball of Starc’s spell before tea and Stokes was run out taking on a risky single to cover.

Will Jacks justified his selection with a useful 19 before another slash at a wide half volley to Starc and England suffered another mini collapse, losing three for 13.

It looked as if Australia might face a tricky mini session under the lights but Archer added some useful runs to the total. A tight, tense day ended with England on top and Root’s name sung loud and clear.

12:17pm

Glenn McGrath on BBC TMS

“The ball is soft, not doing much, it is better conditions to bat in, I am not surprised England got runs on the board. You maybe still would have wanted to have a go with the ball though. There was potential for Australia to be four wickets down going into tomorrow.

“Bowling under light with the new pink ball is as tough as it gets. It is only three millimetres of grass out there, that is the difference. It is a lot easier to bowl and get some wickets on the conditions out there now than it will be tomorrow morning.”

12:15pm

Post-day thoughts of Australia keeper Alex Carey

“A bit up and down really, We started well with the ball, saw a good partnership form with [Zak] Crawley and [Joe] Root. Got back into them after the break, that late partnership was crucial for them. Could have been worse, could have been better. I thought Joe played an outstanding innings and I know it means a lot to him to get that on Australian soil. I think it is a pretty good pitch. Would have been nice to get them out, England played well. We are confident that we are in the game, we have got a good opportunity with the bat.

“I think it is a good pitch. We saw the boys try and change it [the ball] a lot. You could put it out of shape with your hands, it was very soft. It produced runs and wickets. I think the wicket is good, the ball performed how we thought it would. Would have been nice to get Jofra [Archer] out early. It is always going to be tough to leave out a player like Nathan Lyon. The selectors have done a good job at making the right calls, I am looking forward to get back out there tomorrow and wrap it up and then get on with some batting.”

12:08pm

Advantage England after day one?

12:06pm

Thoughts of Zak Crawley, who scored 76 today

On the pitch:

“The last few days it has been really green so we thought it was going to be a nipper. They shaved it this morning, so I thought it would be a good toss to win and I think it was.”

On whether England thought about declaring:

“No talk of declaring. If the boys go hard and get out, it is a win-win. They went hard and it came off. A valuable 50 runs. We were happy. I am not too sure [what the plan is tomorrow]. We will see how these guys go. They are going to go hard in the morning and it will be an important first 10 overs with the ball.”

On Joe Root:

“I am chuffed for him. He has not been speaking about it at all. It is all outside noise. He is the best player I have ever played with or against. A champion bloke.”

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12:02pm

Matthew Hayden on TNT Sports

12:01pm

Steven Finn on TNT Sports

“Joe Root never had anything to prove, to me, to us. He is England’s greatest, absolutely. He did not need to score a hundred here to be a great player, but now he has done it.

“He very much has Sachin Tendulkar in his sights as the leading Test run-scorer ever. He has an insatiable appetite for scoring runs. He would have been frustrated last week, especially the way he got out in the second innings, but he took the onus today and made it his job to anchor the innings.”

11:58am

Jonathan Agnew on BBC TMS

“Harry Brook’s dismissal was poor. He has not learnt from Perth at all, we know he has not learned anything. My frustration is that unless he knuckles down and focuses on the broader aspect of the game, he will waste his talent, his statistics are superb. He has to learn to play with a situation and use his intelligence. England showed a lot of promise but they did not use it. Joe Root is head and shoulders above the rest. Harry Brook has got to watch Joe Root.”

11:53am

Change of approach?

Considering how well Mitchell Starc is bowling, do England need to shift their approach to facing him? He is bowling a lot better than the other Australian bowlers and especially without Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, can England afford just to see out his spells and attack the other bowlers. I know that is not really the Bazball approach but considering the drop-off to the other bowlers, would it make sense? You think of the dismissals of Harry Brook and Will Jacks in particular, where they just gifted their wickets away.

11:52am

Did Australia make a big error?

The hosts made the big and intriguing call not to play Nathan Lyon, meaning Australia are operating without a frontline spinner in this Test. Matthew Hayden has just been speaking on TNT Sports and you get the sense there are plenty of former Aussie starts who are not in favour of Lyon’s omission. I think a few of them are fairly stunned.

11:47am

One of Yorkshire’s finest

11:45am

Every England fan watching Joe Root reach his century

11:44am

The thoughts of Mitchell Starc, who took six wickets today

On overtaking Wasim Akram as the leading wicket-taker among left-armers in Test cricket:

“I will reflect on that later. Wasim remains at the pinnacle of left-armers.”

On his performances with the pink ball:

“I get asked all the time, but I still do not know. It is what it is. I still think it is like a white ball.”

On the state of the game:

“Today it was a soft ball, but good Test cricket I guess. A couple of Yorkshiremen between the wickets and Joe [Root] batted well there. Once that ball goes soft it is not the easiest thing to score with and it is certainly not the easiest to bowl with. Proper Test cricket, albeit a pink ball. A solid day’s Test cricket.”

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11:40am

The moment Joe Root went to his hundred

11:39am

To declare or not to declare?

On the first day of the 2023 Ashes series at Edgbaston, Ben Stokes declared on 393/8 late in the day with Joe Root 118 not out. Some criticised that decision, with England going on to lose that match by two wickets.

Today, Stokes had a decision to make with around half an hour left but he stood firm and England added a further 50 runs in the final 30 minutes of play and England will still be batting tomorrow.

11:32am

“An absolute joke”

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The former Australia opener Simon Katich on SEN:

“Ridiculous. To think we are going to get through an extra half hour, so six and a half hour’s cricket, and we are going to get 74 overs in. It’s beyond a joke, an absolute joke.”

11:31am

England close day one on 325/9

This could well be the final over of the day, which Neser will bowl. Even with the extra half an hour, Australia will be 16 over short today. 16! I tell you what, if you added penalty runs onto England’s total based on the number of overs short Australia are I guarantee you they would bowl the overs faster and would not have so blatantly wasted time.

This is the best 10th wicket stand for England at The Gabba. This will be the final over of the day. These two continue to rotate strike and the runs keep flowing for England.

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Archer blocks out the final two balls of the over and that ends an enthralling first day of this second Test. This day will be all about Joe Root, who reached his 40th Test hundred and his first on Australian soil. Take a bow, Mr. Root!

11:26am

OVER 73: ENG 322/9 (Root 133 Archer 31)

If a wicket were to fall now, Australia would not have to bat today. Do England now make sure they are still batting tomorrow, force Australia to come back out into the field? Shoaib Bashir has been sent out with some gloves, maybe a message to now see out the remaining 10 minutes?

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Archer pulls down to fine-leg for a single and gets Root back on strike. Starc bowls a beautiful yorker but Root, in fine touch, flicks through square leg for a couple.

The runs continue to flow and a single through point takes Archer to his highest Test score of 31.

Very clever batting from Root, as he retains the strike with a single up the ground. Four minutes remain.

11:20am Video

OVER 72: ENG 316/9 (Root 129 Archer 29)

Archer charges it at Boland and a mis-cue into the offside lands safely. We are right on the verge of if a wicket fell now, then the close of play would be called. Do England contemplate a shift in approach in a moment if a wicket does not fall in this over?

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Root goes for the reverse scoop and gets six down to third man. Neser stuck out a hand on the boundary but could not grab it. He would have gone over the boundary rope anyway but he cannot prevent the six. We are about to tick past the time in which Australia would have to come out to bat if a wicket falls.

This has been a massive 50-run partnership from Root and Archer.

11:15am Key moments • Video

OVER 71: ENG 307/9 (Root 122 Archer 27)

Starc sends down a full toss and Archer deposits him over long-on’s head for six. The Barmy Army and Ben Stokes are loving this! England are approaching the 300-run mark. A single off an inside edge takes England to 299.

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Root goes back over Starc’s head and the ball races away for four, taking England past 300. Root pulls away into the legside and should come back for two but slips so England have to settle for one.

England get a couple despite a mis-cue from Archer into the offside, with all the fielders right out on the boundary. These runs feel very valuable for England.

11:10am

OVER 70: ENG 292/9 (Root 117 Archer 17)

Archer charges at Boland and swivels to swat Boland over the legside for a big six. What a strike from Archer! He goes again but it goes a long way into the air and is certainly not going for six. It hangs in the air for a long time but it lands safely right between Carey and Labuschagne.

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Archer then powers one through the covers for two more. Boland drops too short and Archer swats the pull shot well in front of square for four. There are now plenty of fielders on the boundary to Archer but the runs are flowing.

Root finishes the over by swatting Boland over mid-wicket for a one-bounce four. 19 runs come from the Boland over but will England declare? These runs are valuable and England will bat on.

11:04am

OVER 69: ENG 273/9 (Root 113 Archer 2)

Matthew Potts has been sent out not only with a pair of gloves for Root but also a message. Are England thinking of declaring, knowing these are the best conditions to bowl in?

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Root attempts his reverse ramp off Starc that comes off the bottom of the bat and in front of square. Root comes through for a single and that is presumably part of the message that came on to take every run on offer and hit out. Archer then gets a single through mid-off to get Root back on strike, with mid-off back a bit.

Root gets a single through point after digging out a Starc yorker. He wanted two but Carey got to it quickly.

This is pathetic from Smith. Let’s call it as it is; a disgrace. Smith now calls for a helmet for Head to go in at short leg and we all know what is going on but again the umpires are doing nothing to prevent the obvious time wasting. One ball after calling the helmet on, Head takes it off and moves position. What are the umpires doing? The Barmy Army let the Australians know what they think of them. “Same old Aussies, always cheating” rings around The Gabba.

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Archer gets a single through mid-off to finish the over.

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Not saying England wouldn’t do the same, but this time wasting from Australia is utterly cynical and completely absurd. We’ve had 69 overs in just over six hours of cricket!

10:57am

OVER 68: ENG 269/9 (Root 111 Archer 0)

Australia captain Steve Smith took a long time to set the field at the start of the over, despite every fielder being on the boundary against Root. Me thinks those are delay tactics to minimise how long Australia have to bat today. This is just ridiculous; Australia’s over-rate is a disgrace frankly and now they are taking an age to bowl their overs now as Carey now comes up the stumps. Smith makes no changes to the field yet the umpires just stand there, doing nothing to speed up play.

Root cuts away brilliantly behind square on the offside and it races away for four, despite plenty of fielders being on the boundary. Root takes a single off the fourth ball to give Archer two balls to face in this over.

Once more, Smith takes an age to set the field and everyone can see what he is going yet the only ones seemingly not aware are the umpires. Just over half an hour left. Even with an extra half an hour, Australia are going to be at least 15 overs short, in principle.

Archer sees out the final two deliveries of the over.

10:50am

OVER 67: ENG 264/9 (Root 106 Archer 0)

Jofra Archer is the final man and can he survive the final two balls of this over to get Root back on strike? Yes he can.

10:48am Wickets • Video

Wicket

Carse c Carey b Starc 0 Carse has gone second ball and Starc has his sixth wicket. This England innings is coming towards a close. It is a decent delivery from Starc across Carse and a good grab by Carey down to his right but not the best batting from Carse. England could well have half an hour at Australia tonight. FOW 264/9

10:43am Wickets

Wicket

Atkinson c Carey b Starc 4 That is a sensational catch from Carey to give Starc his five-for. Atkinson’s pull comes off the top edge and goes high into the air. Both Carey and Labuschagne go racing back behind themselves and both dive for it. Carey manages to take it amazingly. They do check to see if it hit the cables that spider cam runs off but it is cleared. Labuschagne kind of did his best to make it as hard as possible for Carey, who still clung on. Starc has been in fine form to start this series and claims his five-for. FOW 264/8

10:41am

OVER 66: ENG 260/7 (Root 106 Atkinson 0)

Root advances down the ground and tucks it away off his pads through mid-wicket for four. The professional Root is will know that the job is not done, despite the milestone.

10:39am Key moments • Analysis • Video

Joe Root reaches first Test hundred in Australia

Boland is back into the attack, with Carey up to the stumps. A nip-backer comes off Root’s pad, onto his bat and then loops into the air but it lands safely. Boland then sends down a bouncer which Carey takes brilliantly but it is called a wide. You can feel the tensions inside The Gabba right now.

There it is! The Yorkshireman gets one on his pads and he flicks it away fine for four. ‘Rooooooot’ rings out around The Gabba as he reaches his 40th Test hundred and his first on Australian soil. A sublime innings from Root at a crucial moment for England in this match and the series. He came in with England under pressure at 5/2 but as he has done time and time again he steps up with a big knock.

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Incredible moment as the Gabba crowd stands to celebrate Joe Root’s first hundred in Australia. A great innings, one of his finest, given the circumstances. Weirdly, the boundary that took him past his hundred also took him to 1,000 Test runs in Australia. Not bad for a dud.

The shrug of the shoulders by Root was perhaps an apology for it taking so long to score a hundred in Australia or it could have been a message to those who doubted it would ever happen. Whatever the reason, it was a moment he will cherish, and it could not have come at a more important time for his team.

10:35am

OVER 65: ENG 251/7 (Root 98 Atkinson 0)

Gus Atkinson joins Root in the middle and blocks the final delivery of Starc’s over.

Root will be on strike in the next over and is on 98.

10:33am Wickets

Wicket

Jacks c Smith b Starc 19 Jacks was looking good but gifts his wicket away like Brook did. The ball before he got away with a loose swipe outside his off stump but this time he does not get away with it, nicking off to Smith at second slip. England really did not need that as Starc picks up his fourth wicket of the innings. FOW 251/7

10:29am

OVER 64: ENG 250/6 (Root 97 Jacks 19)

Jacks gets a single through mid-wicket to bring Root onto strike on 96. There are appeals for a caught behind as the ball goes past Root’s outside edge but the Australians never looked convinced. It was not far away from the outside edge.

Green’s final ball of the over is short and wide, with Root cutting away. Root looks to come back for two and there is a slight mix-up but Root is able to safely get back to his crease. Probably sensible from Jacks to send Root back. That single brings up the England 250.

10:24am

OVER 63: ENG 248/6 (Root 96 Jacks 18)

Just over an hour left on day one. Doggett has gone at nearly five-an-over today but he will continue. The first ball after drinks is pulled emphatically by Jacks through backward square leg for four. He rolled his wrists nicely over the ball, keeping the ball down, and the ball races away for four.

A few balls later Doggett bowls a filthy delivery way down the legside and Root gets contact with a pull shot fine and it runs away for four. That boundary takes Root in the 90s and his highest Test score in Australia.

Root then pulls the next ball away through backward square leg for four more. He moves onto 96 and the Barmy Army are up. England have stabilised after those two quick wickets. That may well be the end of Doggett’s spell.

10:16am

OVER 62: ENG 235/6 (Root 88 Jacks 13)

Starc looks like he might be coming back into the attack soon. Green sends down a maiden over and it is time for drinks. Could we see Starc on after the drinks break?

10:12am

OVER 61: ENG 235/6 (Root 88 Jacks 13)

Doggett is too wide and short, allowing Root to cut away for three. It is also a no ball from Doggett and it is a big one! That is a lovely shot from Jacks. Doggett strays onto the pads and Jacks flicks his wrists at just the right moment, timing it beautifully through mid-wicket for four. Starc went chasing after it but had no chance. Doggett has been expensive so far today. England’s inclusion of Jacks undoubtedly strengthens the batting so can Jacks add crucial runs alongside Root?

10:07am

OVER 60: ENG 227/6 (Root 85 Jacks 9)

There is a change in the bowling but it is not Starc yet back into the attack, instead it is Green. The field is spread to Root, who takes a single through backward point.

Green is then too wide and full to Jacks, who punishes that loose delivery with a drive through the covers for four. Runs have not been particularly easy for England to come by in this session but they have just started to flow in this over, with a run off every ball.

10:02am

OVER 59: ENG 218/6 (Root 82 Jacks 3)

The runs have most definitely not flowed since the interval and Australia have done a good job of suffocating England; only just over 20 runs have been scored since the break.

Jacks flicks through the mid-wicket region for a couple.

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A good stat on Aussie radio there. That’s the 13th time Joe Root’s batting partner has been run out. That is the joint most for England, along with our man Geoffrey Boycott. Hard to say that one was Root’s fault at all, mind. Ben Stokes completely barbecued himself.

09:58am

OVER 58: ENG 216/6 (Root 82 Jacks 1)

Jacks is finally off the mark off his ninth ball with a single through mid-wicket.

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Mitchell Starc is warming up again. This situation feels made for him.

09:53am

OVER 57: ENG 215/6 (Root 82 Jacks 0)

Root is always an important batsman for England but boy is he crucial to them right now. He rocks onto the back foot and cuts Doggett away through backward point for four to take the Yorkshireman into the 80s. England need to wrestle back some momentum and Root will be integral to that.

09:49am

OVER 56: ENG 211/6 (Root 78 Jacks 0)

The Australian crowd are up right now as Will Jacks, in for this Test, comes out at number eight. The momentum has very quickly swung in Australia’s favour and this is a crucial period now for England to make sure it does not get any worse.

Boland bowls a beauty to Jacks to finish the over that is not far off the bat and the stumps.

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Before the run out, there had been 47 balls this session, and 40 of them were dots. They had only scored 14 runs. Now the game has been blown right open.

09:45am Wickets

Wicket

Smith b Boland 0 Jamie Smith joins Root in the middle and he lasts just two balls. Australia go bang bang! Not the easiest time to get yourself in and two wickets fall in a matter of a few deliveries. It is a good ball by Boland that nips back in but there was a bit of a gap between bat and pad. “You miss, I hit” is what Boland will be saying. England have gone from a position of control to under pressure in under five minutes. FOW 211/6

09:42am Key moments • Wickets

Wicket

Stokes run out Inglis 19 England have gifted Australia a wicket and the England captain has to go. The hosts did not look like taking a wicket but a superb piece of fielding gives them one. Stokes pushes into the offside and wants a single, only to be told no by Root at the non-striker’s end. Stokes gets nearly halfway down the wicket before having to put the brakes on and having to turn back. Inglis picks up the ball cleanly and it is a direct hit. Superb from Inglis but whose fault was that? Was there a single there and therefore it was Root’s fault or was there never a single and thus Stokes’ error? There will be plenty of debate around that one. FOW 210/5

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That is an incredible run out from Inglis. One stump to aim at, only a direct hit would have done. England had dropped anchor since tea and Stokes desperately wanted a run. Sensational.

09:37am

OVER 54: ENG 210/4 (Root 77 Stokes 19)

Carey is now also up to the stumps to Boland. Another un-Bazbally statistic; as it stands the strike-rates of this England pair is under 50! England had been going at over four an over for the first two sessions of the day but it is under two so far in this session.

Boland nearly gets out of the over with a maiden but Root finishes the set with a stunning on-drive right by the stumps for four. One of the hardest shots in the book and Root makes it look easy.

09:32am

OVER 53: ENG 206/4 (Root 73 Stokes 19)

Neser is bowling a probing line in the corridor of uncertainty from over the wicket to Stokes and, with Carey up to the stumps, it does restrict Stokes somewhat. Neser has now decided it is time for a change and comes around the wicket.

A maiden over from Neser and England have scored just 10 runs in just over half an hour since the interval; very un-Bazbally!

09:28am

OVER 52: ENG 206/4 (Root 73 Stokes 19)

Starc bowled just two overs in that spell and is replaced by Boland.

Root gets one on his pads and he easily flicks through backward square leg for a couple. He immediately called for two and it was easy in the end as he found the gap.

Off the final ball of the over Root comes a long way down the ground and is struck on the pads. The umpire shakes his head and the impact looked outside the line of off stump. You wonder as well if he was too far down the wicket as well. Australia have already lost one review to Root in this innings and they lose another as the impact was miles outside off stump. It did not look out at all in real time and it is safe to say that is a dreadful review from Smith. Australia have just one review left.

09:22am

OVER 51: ENG 204/4 (Root 71 Stokes 19)

Just the one run from a probing over from Neser with Carey still up to the stumps, not allowing Root as much freedom to move around the crease.

09:18am

OVER 50: ENG 203/4 (Root 70 Stokes 19)

The statistics for day/night Tests in Australia show that the easiest batting conditions are in the middle session and the bowling averages in the first and last sessions are fairly similar.

That is a lovely stroke from Stokes to bring up the England 200. It is the England captain’s best shot of the day as he drives Starc through mid-off for four. He did not try to hit it too hard and it was all about timing.

A few balls later Stokes goes after a wider delivery that just misses the outside edge. That would not have been a nice way to go for the England captain.

09:13am

OVER 49: ENG 199/4 (Root 70 Stokes 15)

Neser finished off the last session and he continues after the interval, bowling at the opposite end to Starc. Carey is still up the stumps, as he saw him just before the break.

That was a slightly strange piece of cricket. Root thinks he might get a few runs through the covers only for Inglis to pull off a great diving stop. However, Inglis’ throw to Carey is miles over the keeper’s head and England can come through for an overthrow.

Stokes gets his first run of the session in slightly risky fashion, going for a quick single into the legside. It would have been a close call had Doggett hit the stumps but Stokes is off and running in the session.

09:09am

OVER 48: ENG 197/4 (Root 69 Stokes 14)

Root will face up to Starc to kick off the session. Root immediately gets through for a single off the first ball of the session with an easy single up to Head at a deepish mid-off. A slightly strange field to Root there but maybe they want Starc up against Stokes, who has faced just 23 balls in this innings thus far. Starc got Stokes in both innings in Perth.

Stokes has looked solid in this first over after the interval, including digging out a Starc yorker. No runs for the England captain in that over but a solid restart.

Once more, the Australians try to get the ball changed for the thousandth time in this innings. It is getting quite farcical; just get on with it!

09:02am

Ready to resume

Joe Root (68) and Ben Stokes (14) walk out to the middle for what could be a crucial session not just in this Test match but also the series. The sun has well and truly set in Brisbane and we are fully into darkness now. How will England’s batsmen fare under the lights against the pink ball?

09:00am

Don’t put the kiss of death on it!

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Thirty-two runs more for Joe Root’s first Test century in Australia. It would be a very special moment for England’s greatest modern batsmen, but it would be very premature to say that a hundred would elevate Root to being England’s best Test batsman of all time. Jack Hobbs scored nine centuries down under.

08:59am

Huge session ahead

The night session will determine England’s day but they go into it with Joe Root 68 not out and carrying their hopes. Ben Stokes groped around in the twilight, but survived and England would have gladly taken this position at five for two. It should be better. Harry Brook’s wild drive to Mitchell Starc’s first ball of a new spell opened England up just as the half-light began to form and could still prove to be the pivotal moment.

Brook brims with talent and can play genius shots but game management is a major weakness and he shows little sign of learning from his past mistakes. Crawley played with great character to make 76 after sweating on a pair in Perth for nearly two weeks but his wicket was also soft: an underedge pulling a Neser half tracker.

08:50am

Game knows game

08:46am

Dinner: ENG 196/4

Sir Alastair Cook notes that both sessions comprised 98 for two and awards the second to Australia. The ‘session win’ is a daft concept.

08:44am

OVER 47: ENG 196/4 (Root 68 Stokes 14)

Carey comes up to the stumps for Neser, tethering Stokes in the crease. After a solid defensive, he leaves a couple, flirts at one, then sways out of the road of the bouncer which is well taken by Carey.

Stokes defends the last and walks off to the sanctuary of ‘dinner’ after the maiden.

Stokes seems to be struggling to pick the ball up in the Brisbane half-light. Several times now he has looked nonplussed at the pitch, and doubly so after ballooning an edge off Michael Neser – which, mercifully for England, falls safe.

08:41am

OVER 46: ENG 196/4 (Root 68 Stokes 14)

This should be Starc’s last over before the break. Root defends the first two then tucks the slower, shorter one off middle through midwicket for a single. Stokes leaves one that arrows down the channel then drives for a single, more toe than middle, to cover when given some width. Starc comes round the wicket to Root who defends the last and sees him off for now. One more over before ‘dinner’.

Ben Stokes has a curiously poor record in day-night Tests, averaging 19 with the bat and 48 with the ball. This would be an opportune time to improve those numbers.

08:35am

OVER 45: ENG 194/4 (Root 67 Stokes 13)

Neser comes back on for Boland. Stokes refuses to be tempted, playing Brigadier Block until the bouncer comes out. The first trampolines high enough to be called wide, the next, into Stokes ribs, is jabbed away off the splice but falls short of point. That’s the third time Stokes has been squared up.

This photo could be a fine subject for a painting

08:29am

OVER 44: ENG 193/4 (Root 67 Stokes 13)

Root defends and scraps a drive he had originally intended to chase when given the tempter by Starc. Root and his captain exchange singles, Root’s pushed to point, Stokes, more painfully, riding the surprising bounce to jab it down through the covers.

With Lyon glumly sitting in the dugout, Australia’s over rate is a funereal 12ish an hour. If England bat for more than 80 overs, that should cost them in the pocket. But it could also cost them tactically; in an ideal world, they would have 10 overs with the new ball under lights tonight.

08:24am

OVER 43: ENG 191/4 (Root 66 Stokes 12)

Australia ask for the ball to be checked again but it goes through the rings smoothly. Root inside-edges Boland for a single as the ball nips in, Stokes outside-edges for four wide of the slips, fist-bitingly uppish but he gets away with it. Boland sprays the last on Stokes’ pads and he flicks it fine for four.

08:20am

OVER 42: ENG 182/4 (Root 65 Stokes 4)

Root sees off the second over of Starc’s spell and takes a single off the last ball. There are 20 minutes before ‘dinner’. Can he see off the next couple, too. The match may hinge on it.

Ben Stokes once described Harry Brook as a ”bit dumb”. He later apologised to his team-mate and was referring to him off the field, not on it, but that shot shows Stokes was not far off the mark.

08:16am

OVER 41: ENG 181/4 (Root 64 Stokes 4)

Root works Boland’s nip-backer off his pads for a single. All seems a bit peripheral to Starc’s overs.

Scyld Berry on the greatest left-armers in Test history
(Mitchell Starc may have the most wickets, but he’s not No 1)

08:12am

OVER 40: ENG 180/4 (Root 63 Stokes 4)

That old saw about if you’re going to flash, flash hard, doesn’t apply to Brook. He flashes harder than just about anyone but still nicks off. Three times in three innings in the series.

Stokes, tentative against his great tormentor, gets off the mark with a thick edge wide of gully for four.

That wicket takes him to 415 Test wickets in 102 Tests, the most successful left-arm quick, only Rangana Herath’s 433 as any left-arm bowler ahead of him.

Extraordinary, the gulf in quality between Mitchell Starc and the rest of Australia’s pace attack. After the bloodless toil of Brendan Doggett and Scott Boland, there is a palpable sense of theatre at the Gabba even as his name is announced, with the light quickly fading. Harry Brook duly falls straight into the trap, flashing hard at a full length and edging straight to Steve Smith. That is dismally ill-judged by the vice-captain, at exactly the moment he needed to absorb the pressure.

08:04am Wickets

Wicket!

Brook c Smith b Starc 31 Much fuller than the other bowlers, Brook throws the bat at a flat-footed drive and thick-edges it through to second slip. He won’t change. The ball flew at Smith who seemed to lose sight of it but it stuck all the same. Enter Stokes who has fallen to Starc 11 times in Tests. FOW 176/4

Terrible shot from Brook, to the first ball he’s faced from Starc, who has come back specifically because it is getting dark. Starc overtakes Wasim Akram to become Test cricket’s leading wicket taker among left-arm quicks.

08:04am

OVER 39: ENG 175/3 (Root 62 Brook 31)

Root survives that very close call, having been squared up. Here comes Starc.

08:02am

Not out

The ball was going over the stumps. Australia lose a review. Looked plumb on first look when it was clear he hadn’t hit it.

08:01am

Australia review

Root lbw b Boland He was a long way across

08:00am

OVER 38: ENG 172/3 (Root 61 Brook 30)

Brook gives us kittens with a couple of loose shots, flashing hard outside off, playing and missing, then trying to slash a cut over the slips off Green. The bowler serves up another short one and this time Brook heaves a pull through midwicket for two. Green asks for a fly slip then pushes him back to the boundary but double bluffs with the attempted yorker that Brook chisels out comfortably. The final ball is short and wide but instead of uppercutting it, Brook fillets point with a meat cleaver cut stroke of brutal violence. England have equalled their first-innings score from Perth, batted longer than both innings at Perth and these two have put on 50 for the fourth wicket.

07:53am

OVER 37: ENG 166/3 (Root 61 Brook 24)

Root spent the drinks break putting new grip on his bat. Boland continues. Starc is back on the field but waiting for the sun to set. Three slips for Root as Boland sticks to channel balls, starting with five dots after Brook wisely sends Root back when he wanted a single to cover but it went too quickly to the fielder. Make that six dots as Root leaves the last, making it only the second maiden of the day.

We have about 45 minutes of daylight left. The sun drops quickly in Brisbane. A different game may unfold when that happens, and with five seamers Australia will hold Starc back for a blast under the lights. Crucial England do not lose their way in the next few overs and ride out the bouncer tactic.

07:45am

OVER 36: ENG 166/3 (Root 61 Brook 24)

Root, surprised by the bounce, flinches his gloves out of the road of Green’s opening delivery then, buoyed by his innings so far, plays his favourite shot, the one he hasn’t deployed so far, opening the face to dab two down to third man. Green goes straighter and Root RSVP’s the half-volley by smearing an on-drive for four. Green slips out a full bunger and Root pats it through the covers for three. Brook almost drags the final ball of the over on but mercifully it cannons off the inside edge into his back pad and thence to safety.

Time for the drinks break.

07:40am

OVER 35: ENG 157/3 (Root 52 Brook 24)

England steal an overthrow when Green stupidly throws down the stumps when Root had grounded his bat even before Green had gathered at gully. Brook climbs into the wider one from Boland and skews it over point off the toe for two runs.

Double change: Green will replace Neser.

07:36am

OVER 34: ENG 154/3 (Root 51 Brook 22)

Brook cuts Neser for a single, Root pulls another short one for a single. A graphic shows that there is 8cm less of bounce in this second session than in the first.

First bowling change of the session: Boland to replace Doggett. The keeper is back and Smith gives him a more orthodox one-day field (apart from the two slips and gully).

07:31am

OVER 33: ENG 152/3 (Root 50 Brook 21)

The shadows are lengthening and the bowlers keep asking the umpires to look at the ball. Doggett keeps banging in half-trackers and the Tykes pull him for three singles off his first three balls. Root pulls the fourth squarer to bring up his half-century. Starc has gone off the field which may signal a third spell is imminent.

Brook, dicing with death, whips the last ball of the over just over a leaping midwicket for a single.

07:25am

OVER 32: ENG 147/3 (Root 48 Brook 18)

Carey is staying up to the stumps for Root and Neser pins him with another big inswinger. Australia appeal but it seemed to be heading down and ball-tracking shows that indeed it was because he was wide in the crease at the point of delivery. After five dot balls, Root picks the inswinger and, with a twist of the wrist, flicks it between midwicket and mid-on for four.

Statistical quirk or a problem? Zak Crawley has been out four times in Tests for 76. He’s also got a 77, a 78, and a 79, and a total of nine scores in the seventies.

07:21am

OVER 31: ENG 143/3 (Root 44 Brook 18)

Doggett keeps banging it in and England, pulling down, milk him for four singles. Matt Prior is still apoplectic about Brook trying to ramp Neser and annoyed with Root, too, for not giving Brook a dressing down.

07:17am

OVER 30: ENG 139/3 (Root 42 Brook 16)

Carey is back up to the stumps for Root when Neser is bowling, pushing him back into the crease. They want to pin him leg-before with the inswinger and Root fiddles a single off a ball designed just for that off the inside edge. The keeper goes back for Brook who uses his feet to Neser and harpoons a square drive for four. That brings the keeper back up to the stumps and he almost catches Brook out of his ground playing an outrageous shot. He’ll never change. Matt Prior is spitting feathers at that stroke, trying to scoop a quick after just smashing him for four.

Lubo and Lamby remember the Judge

07:14am

Umpire review

Brook st Carey b Neser Nah, he had his foot down even though he had fallen over when attempting to ramp it. Nice glove-work, mind. NOT OUT.

07:09am

OVER 29: ENG 133/3 (Root 41 Brook 11)

Brook starts at his usual lick, pulling a single straight out of the screws, tucking a boundary off his hip off Doggett, working two through midwicket and then, anticipating the bouncer and calling right, backing away and scything it behind point for four more.

07:06am

OVER 28: ENG 123/3 (Root 41 Brook 1)

As Sir Alastair Cook says, Australia burgle a wicket and Zak Crawley has let Australia off the hook. Still, 76 is England’s highest score of the series and established decent foundations for his next innings. But England needed him to go on.

From absolutely nowhere, that. England have let Australia back in, just as they were starting to fray. The keeper had been up, and at the other end, they has turned to the bouncer plan. Having played so well, that is a mistake from Crawley. The ball just wasn’t short enough to pull, and Crawley looked like he got a little impatient after a few better balls from Neser.

07:01am Wickets

Wicket!

Crawley c Carey b Neser 76 In defence of the jinxing comment below, the keeper was standing back and Crawley took on Neser’s bouncer, bottom-edging it as he went for the pull. The partnership is broken at 117. FOW 122/3

07:00am

OVER 27: ENG 121/2 (Crawley 76 Root 40)

Root takes on Doggett’s legside bouncer and gloves it, maybe a foot beyond Carey’s grasp as he dived to his left. The ball sails down for four. Two more singles come off controlled pulls with rolled wrists, another from a chopped square cut and a fourth driven out to the point sweeper.

So we have bouncers at one end from the fourth quickest bowler and inswing at the stumps with the keeper up from the other end. Not a great deal of coherence to this, a line that will look daft if it works.

Are England glimpsing what they hoped before the series? Australia, without both Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, look a slightly less imposing attack. Early days still of course.

06:55am

OVER 26: ENG 113/2 (Crawley 74 Root 34)

Neser, whose home ground this is, surprises the commentators by being the choice to partner Doggett rather than Starc. Carey stands up to the wicker. Root inside edges the inswinger for a single followed by Crawley playing a wonderful on-drive for four. Smith is a weird captain with his fields, the kind of skipper who would like 13 out there, tinkers too quickly with plans and keeps chasing the ball. Swing for Neser, the ball ducking in at 84mph, picked by both right-handers so far.

06:48am

OVER 25: ENG 107/2 (Crawley 69 Root 33)

Yes, they have gone for barrage tactics. But Doggett isn’t very quick. Root pulls the first ball off his chest for a single, Crawley bottom edges a pull into his hip  and leaves a couple either side of him nailing a pull between long leg and square leg for four. When Doggett pitches up, Crawley thumps an off-drive for four more that brings up England’s first hundred partnership of the series.

06:45am

Steve Smith talks to his players in a huddle

At the boundary rope after a 40-minute break. Always seems performative when they have just spent time together in the dressing room. Interesting thoughts from Brad Haddin at tea, telling England to own the first hour and saying the decision to drop Nathan Lyon may bite Australia on the backside.

Doggett will open the bowling with two men out on the hook so it seems he is going to try some chin music, playing on the ego, doing what they did at Lord’s in 2023.

06:38am Session reports

Nick Hoult’s verdict

The hangover from Perth carried into the first 15 minutes of the second Test as Mitchell Starc’s two strikes with the new ball had England wobbling at five for two but they gained a foothold in the match thanks to the calm of Zak Crawley and Joe Root.

Crawley has spent a career batting with doubts over his place so the attention after his pair in Perth was nothing new. He responded by looking to be positive but left well too, picking off Australia when they erred on his legs or straight. He reached the first interval with an unbeaten half century. Root looked far more balanced and poised than he did in the first Test, the frenzied batting of Perth replaced by something far more disciplined at the Gabba, as 93 was added for the third wicket.

England left about 20 per cent of deliveries in the first session but still batted at four runs an over, and now with the ball softened and the middle session the best time of the day to bat in a floodlit Test, they have an opportunity to really cash in.

Ducks for Ben Duckett – out first ball as Starc struck in the opening over of a Test for the 26th time – and Ollie Pope had the Gabba rocking. Duckett was tentatively poking at a ball he could have left, Pope played with an angled bat as if he had forgotten the bounce in Brisbane is just like Perth early on.

It would have been 21 for three had Australia reviewed a feather behind by Crawley on 15 but on a good batting pitch, England could play themselves in and take the sting out of Australia once they had seen off Starc. Crawley gave a half chance on 39 when he drove Scott Boland straight back at him but he could not get to the ball in his follow through. There has been the odd waft but generally Crawley and Root played a patient game, the lessons from Perth learned.

Australia left out Nathan Lyon and already their attack looked predictable once the nip with the new ball dissipated. England are on top, but that is the danger point for them.

06:12am

Listen: session verdict

06:07am

TEA: ENG 98/2

Hard to watch initially with those two early wickets and then both being given lives, Crawley perhaps feathering an edge and Root dropped at second slip, but they have done very well since, not batting with the cliched gung-ho gusto they are damned for when it doesn’t come off but leaving well on line most of the time and patiently waiting for the balls to put away. They have gone fishing a couple of times too many for my liking but they are still there and have put England not only back in the Test but back in the series. It’s stiflingly hot, Australia have tried to have the ball changed already, the initiative is there to be seized but there’s no need to accelerate. The tempo is just right.

06:04am

OVER 24: ENG 98/2 (Crawley 61 Root 32)

Crawley chops a cut stroke off the bottom edge for no run off Green who then tries to tempt him outside off but he blocks the one that comes in and leaves the one that doesn’t. Green tries to slip in the straight yorker, drops it six inches too short and Crawley creams it for four through mid-on with a magnificent on-drive. Well played! They have put on 93 since losing Duckett and Pope for ducks.

05:59am

OVER 23: ENG 94/2 (Crawley 57 Root 32)

Carey appeals for a catch when Starc’s inswinger clips Root’s thighpad. The Barmy Army, who are making a racket now in support of England, treat the appeal with disdain. Starc finishes his pre-tea work with two for 26 off eight overs. One over to come before they can take a breather.

There has been an oddly restorative quality to the past hour. England are leaving, on average, a fifth of the deliveries from Australia’s pacemen, which does suggest one of the major lessons from Perth has been learned. After the frantic chaos of the series so far, a more disciplined approach seems to be taking shape. Of course, the imperative now is that this partnership survives the final few minutes until lunch (or technically tea).

05:54am

OVER 22: ENG 93/2 (Crawley 56 Root 32)

England scramble a single for a Crawley square drive. Inglis makes an excellent, diving stop at cover point and then shies at the striker’s stumps, missing with Root running hard to make his ground. Green almost draws Root’s edge outside off with one that nibbles away at the last then bounces him. Root pulls that for a single and Crawley tickles a loose inswinger for four then clips another delivery on middle and leg for a single.

Fair play to Zak Crawley. It must have been an utterly agonising 12 days since his infamous, agonising Perth pair, but this has been an innings of substance and character when England needed it. This is the Zak Crawley they were hoping for.

05:48am

OVER 21: ENG 86/2 (Crawley 50 Root 31)

Root, still watchful, elongates a defensive push square for a single then, after Crawley leaves Starc’s tempter outside off, the opener closes the face to work a single through midwicket crisply to bring up his fifty.

05:46am

OVER 20: ENG 84/2 (Crawley 49 Root 30)

Crawley, surprised by Green’s bounce off a good length, jabs a single off the splice through point. Root flips the intended yorker, that doesn’t pitch, through midwicket for a single before Crawley moves to 49 with some help from Doggett who chases his midwicket flick and then drags it back into himself and taking ot over the rope for his sixth boundary.

05:43am

OVER 19: ENG 80/2 (Crawley 44 Root 29)

Root treats Starc with the caution of someone detonating a bomb, defending solidly, judging his leaves well and then patting a drive through mid-off for a single. Root signals to Crawley that the danger movement is wobble seam to entice the loose drive rather than inswing and Crawley duly leaves the next ball that angles across him before flicking a single off his toes when Starc errs too straight.

Smith calls up Green, employing his fifth bowler.

05:35am

OVER 18: ENG 76/2 (Crawley 43 Root 28)

Having gone 11 balls without scoring, Crawley drives Boland for four, uppishly and too close to Boland for comfort but productive nonetheless. Boland asks the umpire to check the ball which goes through the rings and will not be changed. Here comes Starc for a second dart this side of the long tea break. He’s not happy with the ball either. In come the boundary riders and Smith applies the squeeze.

05:31am

OVER 17: ENG 71/2 (Crawley 39 Root 27)

Root rolls the wrists on a pull, cuffing Doggett’s bouncer down to fine leg for a single but it’s the only run off the over, Root testing the infield but not piercing it and also playing and missing at one that tailed away. Matt Prior suggests that Steve Smith has gone into bunker mode with his deep point, as if saying let’s keep it tight and wait for the floodlights to come on. It does mean that there are singles aplenty for the taking. Starc is already stretching. If Green is fit – he bowled only three overs in Perth – he ought to be bowling. His height would give England something different to defend.

05:27am

OVER 16: ENG 70/2 (Crawley 39 Root 26)

Root advances a stride towards Boland and times the pants off an on-drive for four. Walking down again he plays tip and run to cover to take the partnership to 65, England’s highest in the series so far, beating Pope and Duckett in the second innings at Perth. Crawley almost ends it at 65 by fiddling outside off before not following through with the stroke and then,a  model of rectitude, leaves the next. He’s done the hardest part of all and the ball is getting softer. Don’t chuck it away. Some dipstick in a Travis Head shirt starts waving his arms behind the bowler as Boland runs in. Crawley pulls away then plays and misses at the next before marching down and complaining that some people in the crowd are distracting him.

05:19am

OVER 15: ENG 65/2 (Crawley 39 Root 21)

Doggett appeals for leg-before when he jags one back into Root but it struck him outside the line and above the knee. Apart from that, though… Smith brings up a short cover for Root, who is defending straight, concentrating on the V for now. His patience is rewarded with a straight one that he tucks off his pads for a single to pinch the strike.

05:16am

OVER 14: ENG 64/2 (Crawley 39 Root 20)

Smith has spread his field with sentries on the rope at cover, midwicket and long leg, with a ring around the square and two slips for Boland. It’s very hot out there now, not a breath of breeze and Boland was blowing after three overs. Crawley defends, leaves, skews an on-drive too close to a fielder and, after a loopy bouncer that the umpire deems a wide, chases a wide one and tries to smash it to Townsville with an ugly yahoo. Fortunately he missed it. Buy why go swiping now?

05:09am

OVER 13: ENG 63/2 (Crawley 39 Root 20)

Doggett resumes. You can see the water marks mottling the pitch. It is expected to quicken up tomorrow but isn’t coming on anywhere near as quickly as Perth. Crawley drives for a single through cover and Root shapes up nicely when Doggett over-pitches to caress it through extra-cover for three.

Root shaping up much better – he is leaving those tempters outside off stump and waiting for Australia to bowl straight so he can pick them off on the leg side or down the ground. Encouraging signs for England after a mad first 12 minutes of the Test when Pope and Duckett failed to register and the Gabba was bouncing. Crawley has a start and with the ball coming on to the bat nicely, this is his opportunity. Can he learn from Root at the other end, and leave those balls on fifth or sixth stump?

05:04am

OVER 12: ENG 58/2 (Crawley 37 Root 17)

Boland is quicker than Doggett and Neser, mid-eighties compared with low-eighties. It’s all about his line and when he doesn’t nail it, Root pings him off his toes for two then creams a wonderful off drive to bring up the fifty partnership.

On come the drinks.

04:59am

Beware pontiffs bearing gifts

Stuart Broad was not very happy with Ollie Pope. Speaking on Seven he described his shot – forcing off the back foot with an angled bat – as “a gift”. Pope averages 16.2 in Australia from nine innings and that dismissal was sadly predictable, learning from previous mistakes is not one of his strengths.

04:57am

OVER 11: ENG 51/2 (Crawley 36 Root 11)

Doggett treats Root to some width and Root chops a cut in front of square for three. Nice stroke, didn’t hit it too hard. This ground is huge but the outfield is quicker than it was at Perth where it had been mashed up by Metallica fans, hence Crawley’s well-timed but not thumped off drive also earns him three and brings up the fifty for England.

04:53am

OVER 10: ENG 45/2 (Crawley 33 Root 8)

After Crawley and Root work Boland for singles, Boland tightens his line and nips one past Crawley’s edge. He is batting on off-stump and has been a good judge of what to leave so far but he had to play at that one. The last ball of the over brings a rush of blood to Crawley’s head, charging Boland and trying to whisk a fifth-stump line through midwicket. He misses but is clipped on the top flap of the pad… way outside the line.

Starc’s first spell finishes after five overs. Doggett will replace him.

04:48am

OVER 9: ENG 43/2 (Crawley 32 Root 7)

Crawley drives Starc streakily over cover for two and Starc responds with a perfume ball that takes off. Crawley shapes to hook but the ball not only vaults his bat but also Carey’s leap which, with arms raised means it must have been 10ft high and goes down for four byes. Two balls later Starc pitches it up and Crawley straight drives it in the air for four. Starc caught and bowled him when he played a check-drive in the second innings at Perth. This one was better-timed, hit harder and flew past Starc’s outstretched left arm for four.

04:43am

OVER 8: ENG 32/2 (Crawley 25 Root 7)

Change of bowling: Boland replaces Neser. Root has fallen to Boland four times in Tests. After slapping a back cut along the ground to a fielder, Root is given one pitched further up and French/Harrow drives it off the inside edge for a single to long leg. It’s heart in mouth all the way for England. Crawley ends the over with a nice, firm push square through the offside. Both batsmen are batting out of their crease to Boland suggesting, as Matt Prior points out, that the ball isn’t coming on as much as they think it should on the pitch.

Starc is staying on for a fifth over, which is the most he had to bowl in a spell in the opening Test.

04:38am

OVER 7: ENG 30/2 (Crawley 24 Root 6)

Crawley throws the bat at a wide one and slices it over gully for two. The opener is almost undone by the guzunder, a yorker that burrows beneath the toe of his bat but misses off stump and scuffs a couple of drives for no return.

Mitchell Starc has 12 wickets so far this series in 27.5 overs – so a strike rate of a wicket every 14 balls. Extraordinary.

04:34am

OVER 6: ENG 28/2 (Crawley 22 Root 6)

Neser is also moving the ball but is bowling very straight and full and Crawley tucks in to flick two off his pads through midwicket then three more past midwicket’s left hand. Root keeps bat and pad close enough together not to drag the last ball on, inside-edging into his left leg when pushing outside off. His footwork hasn’t been like him at his best so far.

04:29am

OVER 5: ENG 23/2 (Crawley 17 Root 6)

Quieter over from Starc but still swinging it whenever he wants to do so. Crawley works the first ball through mid-off for a single and Root watchfully plays out five dot balls, leaving a couple which persuades Starc to go shorter and in to his body. Root is quick to get up on his toes and fend it down, losing control of the ball but there’s no bat-pad in to take advantage.

04:23am

OVER 4: ENG 22/2 (Crawley 16 Root 6)

A mixed bag of an over for Crawley who plays two fine shots off two not so fine deliveries, whipping one off his toes for four then driving Neser through extra cover when he overpitches for another. But he is also beaten outside off and may have even got a gnat’s whisker of a scratch on one of them but Australia decide not to review. The replay shows a tiny murmur on the snicko but it’s immaterial now.

04:19am

OVER 3: ENG 11/2 (Crawley 5 Root 6)

After leaving one, Pope decides to chuck the bat at a wider one and is done by bounce and swing. Enter Joe Root who is given one on middle stump and he whisks it away for two through midwicket. He is beaten by the next ball which was the wobble seam that holds its line outside off. Root went for the drive, no footwork, and escaped and follows that by nicking low to second slip where Smith drops a very hard chance diving low to his left and tips it round the post for four.

Every member of England’s top five has registered a duck in one of the first three innings of the Ashes.

04:12am Wickets

Wicket!

Pope b Starc 0 Plays on from outside off. Lulled by the bounce he tries to play a forcing shot off the back foot through point and drags on via the inside edge. Starc is swinging it but really that was a shot that should have been left behind in Perth. FOW 5/2

04:12am

OVER 2: ENG 5/1 (Crawley 5 Pope 0)

Neser replaces Boland as the new-ball partner and starts with a maiden. His max pace is 82mph but he is swinging it and although Crawley leaves the first three and defends the next two solidly, he goes fishing late at the last and mercifully doesn’t connect as the ball whistles past the edge

Windows are open in the Gabba press box, granting a perfect audience for the Australians’ taunts of “see ya, Ducky, quack, quack, quack” as Ben Duckett departs first ball. Tempted to close them again.

04:08am

OVER 1: ENG 5/1 (Crawley 5 Pope 0)

The beans must be jumping for Crawley. I know they are for me just watching him. The first ball is in the channel, bouncing nicely through and Crawley leaves it. The next is tighter to the stumps and zips through. I’m not sure if he played at that or pulled his bat inside the line at the last. I think he had a fiddle. Starc ups his pace to 89mph and fizzes one past the edge again but then Crawley gets off the mark for the series and also for England’s first-wicket partnership with a crunching off drive for four, picking the inswinger. Starc goes straighter and Crawley shovels it through midwicket for a single.

Duckett falls for a golden duck. Opening stands now read 0,0 and 5.

Habemus Papam, in the first over, yet again.

Huge relief for Zak Crawley, but a first-ball nightmare for Ben Duckett. Mitchell Starc continues his run of getting a first over wicket. Incredible.

04:05am Wickets

Wicket!

Duckett c Labuschagne b Starc 0 Glorious delivery to the left-hander, good length, swinging away from the left-hander late. Duckett pushes down the line and nicks off to first slip. He’s a champion, Starc. FOW 5/1

04:00am

After the native Australian welcome

… which ends with ‘Go Australia’, the two anthems are sung and England’s players leave the field, only for the openers to retreat behind the rope to put on gloves and helmets and then jog to the middle. Mitchell Starc has the new pink pill and is scratching the popping crease with his studs, where his left foot will land in his delivery stride. Crawley on strike, the 72nd time he has batted one (compared with 25 times at two).

03:51am

The players are wearing black armbands for Robin Smith

The stands are filling up. There are heaps of English in town but it doesn’t feel such an invasion as Perth did last week. It’s a much more Australian crowd.

Minute’s silence coming up in memory of Robin Smith. Both teams wearing black armbands.

03:50am

Vaughan on the toss

03:48am

Ben Stokes speaks to the host broadcaster

We’ve had some extra time to build up to this game and the lads are raring to go. I’m not too sure how the wicket is going to play. We’ve got an opportunity to put runs on the board. Certainly the biggest week of my captaincy up until now but we’ve had a good week and we’re raring to go.

03:45am

A tale of three Tykes

Strong Yorkshire, strong Australia? Leeds-born Josh Inglis comes into their middle order. Pretoria-born Michael Neser means there are three players of South African extraction playing in this match, alongside Marnus Labuschagne and Brydon Carse

03:43am

Zak Crawley in line of fire

For all that England’s decision to bat first seems the correct one, there will be a certain agony in watching a besieged Zak Crawley trying to negotiate the first over against Mitchell Starc. If he falls cheaply after his Perth pair, you would not expect travelling supporters’ reaction to be kind.

03:37am

A word from Steve Smith at the toss

I would have batted. It does give you a chance to manipulate the game if you can bat well. But hopefully we can bowl well this afternoon and do that anyway. Pat was close. He’s done everything right. We thought it might have been a little bit risky for this game but he’s tracking well for the next one.

03:36am

To spin or not to spin

No Nathan Lyon. So England have picked a spinner with five first-class wickets last summer (Will Jacks) and Australia have left out one with 562 Test wickets. This is the first time Lyon has been left out at home since January 2012 but shows the changing nature of Aussie pitches and possibly the switch to Brisbane for the day-nighter from the more spin friendly Adelaide Oval. Lyon was left out for the day-nighter in Kingston earlier this year so not a huge surprise.

03:33am

Teams confirmed

England Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.

Australia Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (capt), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett.

03:31am

England have won the toss

And Ben Stokes has decided to bat first.

Easy choice in a day/nighter, I’d think. The Gabbatoir has been a place of England captains having a shocker at the toss – Hutton, Hussain, even Root on the last tour, who was spooked into batting first on a green one.

03:30am

Steve Smith is captaining Australia

Which means Pat Cummins sits another Test out.

03:29am

TNT Sports coverage begins at 3.30am in the UK

After a torrid first day, it settled down a bit on day two. Matt Prior and Brad Haddin, opposing stumpers in 2009, 2010-11, 2013 and 2013-14, have been drafted in as reinforcements.

03:23am

Seven reasons why the Ashes are not over for England

England fans, all is not lost. Don’t give up hope. There are still reasons why this team can succeed where no other has since 1954-55 by overturning a 1-0 deficit in Australia.

One man had a day out

England have to remember that one bad session with the bat cost them the game and that Travis Head played the innings of a lifetime to make the 205 target look around 50 runs fewer.

The Perth factor should not be underestimated, either. The bounce has deceived Englishmen for decades – England’s only win in the city was against Australia in the Packer years and the move across the Swan River from the Waca has made no difference to conditions. The Perth Stadium has expertly mimicked the Waca despite being a drop-in pitch.

03:20am

Still time to listen to our preview podcast

Reasons to be cheerful:

03:20am

Session times in GMT

4am Afternoon session
6am Tea
6.40am Evening session
8.40am Dinner
9am Night session 
11am close (but play can continue until 11.30am at the latest or 90 overs [!] are bowled]

03:08am

Australia to ditch spinner?

All the talk among our Australian counterparts is that Nathan Lyon has been dropped for the seamer Michael Neser, who is marking his run out. Big call to go without a specialist spinner, and not the first time this year that Lyon has been left out of the team for a day/night game. He was pretty stroppy when omitted in Jamaica, so it will be interesting to see how he takes this. No Pat Cummins is also the word.

Lyon has 43 pink ball Test wickets at 25.62. Neser took one (Hameed) for 33 and one (Malan) for 28 in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide during the 2021-22 Ashes on debut and has played only one Test since.

02:58am

Pivotal day for Key-McCullum-Stokes project

Good afternoon from the Gabba. Always feels a bit weird saying “afternoon” before a game has started, but here we are. I’m no fan of day/night Tests, but have to say I am extremely excited today. It’s hard to overstate what a big game, and day, this is for English cricket and the whole Bazball project. They have had 12 days since Perth, and have done their fair share of stewing. No time for that now, though.

02:48am

Today’s tool of the trade

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01:36am

Weather forecast

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology reports a high temperature of 28C reducing to 23C for the evening session, and the usual oppressive humidity. One thing to not – dusk comes much sooner in Queensland than in South Australia and Tasmania, midway through the middle session, so England will be playing more in proportion of a Test under lights than they have done since they lost by 10 wickets at Ahmedabad in 2021. I don’t want to scare England fans, but that too was a two-day Test. One should also emphasise the fundamental difference, too. That pitch ragged square, allowing Joe Root to take five for eight in India’s first innings and Axar Patel 11 for 70 in the match.

01:29am

Team news

England Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.

Australia (will name their XI at the toss, from) Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (capt, or possibly not), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (capt, or possibly not), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Beau Webster.

01:23am

In fond memory of The Judge

I spent an hour with Robin Smith last week, he had that old glint in his eye

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You hear the phrase “never meet your heroes” a lot, but in my experience it is not true. The reason for that is Robin Smith. Just as he was for so many others, “the Judge” was my hero as a young cricketer. Playing against him and eventually becoming good friends with him only elevated my view of him.

What hurts so much and is so shocking about the Judge’s passing is the timing. He was at the first Ashes Test in his adopted hometown of Perth last week and caught up with so many old friends from England and around the world. I was lucky to spend about an hour with him, just chatting at the back of the commentary box. When he left, all of us who had seen him agreed it was the best he had been for years. He was glowing, and had that old glint in his eye and kind smile on his face.

I come to Perth every year to commentate on the Test and had made a habit of catching up with him. It is well documented that he had gone through some really tough years. And while he was still battling some difficult personal circumstances, this time he looked great, just like his old self. He did an event with punters where he had the room in the palm of his hand, and gave some moving interviews. It is unthinkable that he is gone so soon after that.

01:16am

Preview: 39 years of hurt

In the wee small hours of the morning while the whole wide world is fast asleep, you lie awake and think about the Test and never, ever think of counting sheep… good morning early risers, bitter enders, cricket lovers, masochists and welcome to live coverage of day one of the second Ashes Test from tropical Brisbane, the traditional venue in recent years for the first Test and a venue at which England last won 39 years ago, in 1986-87, they have had the better of one draw in 2010-11, drew by the skin of their teeth in 1998-99 and lost heavily in 1990-91, 1994-95, 2001-02, 2006-07, 2013-14, 2017-18 and 2021-22. The Gabba’s tidings rarely bring comfort and joy.

And given the scale of England’s defeat in the first Test, from cock-a-hoop at lunch on day two to dead and buried just over four hours later, the prospect of them levelling the series by following India’s lead in 2021 and West Indies’ in 2024 and beating Australia at their fortress, and in a day-night Test to boot having twice been thumped at Adelaide and once in Hobart in pink-ball games, seem slim. Yet, even if the margin of Australia’s victory was mammoth, England had more moments of genuine hope and promise across the two days than they demonstrated across their previous 15 Tests in Australia, rattling the hosts on a number of occasions with the ball and a few times with the bat during partnerships between Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope, Pope and Harry Brook, Brook and Jamie Smith. But, as against India in the fifth Test last summer and more than a handful of times over the preceding three years, one misjudgment led to another and a great bowler, Mitchell Starc, and a superb innings from Travis Head, knocked the stuffing out of them.

For all the criticism, unwarranted in this author’s opinion, about their hubris and arrogance, they have spoken humbly and intelligently this week in the build-up, explaining what they had learnt from Perth and their excitement at having the opportunity to put it right is palpable. We know how formidable Australia are at home, especially in a format of which they have more experience than anyone else but England do have the skill and tenacity to claw the series back. I would argue that they are better suited to win the last three Tests but it would be a miracle for them to do so from 2-0 down and with storms not forecast until day four, this is unlikely to be a draw. Victory it has to be. They managed it when the Ashes were on the line at Headingley in 2019 and 2023. They have the talent. Now to find the good fortune, shrewdness and fortitude they will also need.