Australia v England 2nd Test at Brisbane December 4th-8th 2025

Neil Whitaker reports

OE Root hit his first Test century in Australia when he glanced Scott Boland off his legs to the fine leg boundary.

That boundary was one of 11 in his ton which came  off 181 balls but when he came into bat England looked to be facing another batting disaster after they had lost two wickets in the first three overs.

Zak Crawley said: “I think the rest of the side was more nervous than him when he got closer to his century. The ball was doing plenty when he first came in but he was so calm.”

Mitchell Stark finished his first over with a customary wicket when Ben  Duckett edged him to Marnus Labuschange at first slip who took a look catch.  The 26th time that Starc has taken a wicket in his first over of a Test.

In his next over Ollie Pope fell victim to the Welsh dismissal when he dragged one back from well outside off stump.  It could have been worse as  Root was dropped on two by Steve  Smith at second slip.

Root was perfectly suited to playing second fiddle to Crawley but he did have his moments. He perfectly drove  Brendan Doggett through extra cover for three.  But the Aussies thought they had got Root on 35 when pulled Doggett but it was just wide off a diving  Alex Carey’s left hand.

He reached his 19th 50 against Australia when he pulled Doggett to square leg for a single.  His 50 came from 83 balls with five fours, it was his 67th Test 50 in his 160th Test match. 

After his pair in the first Test  Crawley had a tough time in the first over of the match facing Starc but he  drove the fourth ball from Starc to the extra cover boundary for his first runs of the series. That shot gave him confidence as he  drove Starc straight past the bowler to the long-off boundary.

He also grew in stature by batting with Root as they added 117 for the third wicket but it was Root who brought up the 50 partnership off 56 balls when he drove Boland to the long-off boundary.

On 39 Crawley drove Boland straight back at the bowler and hit the left hand of Boland in his follow through and ran to the boundary.  It was one of those that either  stuck or didn’t.

Crawley pushed Starc out to mid-wicket  for a single to bring up his fourth 50 against Australia and his 20th in 61  Tests.  This one came from 68 balls with six fours.  His shot of the morning was when he turned Cameron Green off his legs to the fine leg boundary. He drove Doggett to the extra cover boundary to bring up the hundred partnership with Root in 23 overs.  He drove  Michael Nesser straight for another boundary.  The partnership between Crawley and Root got Steve Smith, the Australian captain rattled, as he ran  the changes with his bowlers and by the 20th over all five main bowlers had bowled.

The partnership was broken when Crawley under-edged a pull off  Michael Nesser and Carey took a regulation catch. Crawley faced 93 balls for his 76 with 11 fours.  He added: I think I left a few out there. I haven’t seen what the media said about my performance in  the last Test, I’ve just been working in the nets and trying to keep still but Starc draws you out there.”

Harry Brook backed away from Doggett and cut him to the point boundary. He effortlessly cut Green to the point boundary to bring up the 50 partnership with Root in 10 overs. Brook survived a DRS call on 31, he was given not out but the Aussies reviewed it and the reply showed it was just too high.  But in the next over he threw everything at Starc’s second ball and the ball flew to Steve Smith at second slip who took the catch above his head.

Ben Stokes, who was booed as he made his way to the crease, got off the mark when he edged Starc through the slips to the boundary.  His second boundary was another edge along the ground through the slips. He had a scare when Nesser got one to rise at him, took the shoulder of Stokes’ bat and was fortunate that the ball didn’t loop to an Australian fielder.

Australia wasted their second review when Root on 73 pushed at Boland and was hit on his pads.  Maybe it was the importance of Root’s wicket that prompted Steve Smith to review it but the replay showed that Root was a long way down the pitch and was hit outside the line.

Root gently drove Boland to the long-off boundary.  He  dramatically late  cut Doggett to the third man boundary.  He glanced Doggett off his to the fine leg boundary to take him into 90’s,  a pull to the square leg boundary took him four short off his ton.

Australia had succeeded in drying the English runs and it was only a matter of sooner than later that an England wicket  would come.  They  lost two wickets in four minutes.  After adding 34 in 15 overs with Root, Stokes played Doggett out on the offside and set off for a single and was nearly halfway down the pitch before he was sent back by.  Stokes turned but couldn’t beat Josh Inglis’ direct hit.

Jamie Smith played down the wrong line to Boland and was bowled.  Will Jacks added some stability and added 40 for the seventh wicket before he chased a wide one Starc and Steve Smith pouched the catch at second slip.

Gus Atkinson top edged a pull off Starc and the ball went behind the slips, both Carey and Labuschange raced and nearly collided to take the catch before Carey claimed it.  There was a delay because Root complained to the umpires that spider cam got in Atkinson’s eyeliner.

Two balls later  Brydon Carse edged a drive off Starc and Carey took a low catch diving forward to give Starc his sixth wicket. Root  was joined by Joffra Archer and after a few big hits they soon added 50 and Root brought up the 50 partnership when he reversed pulled Boland for a six.

Starc said: “It  was a pretty even day of Test cricket and I think both sides will be happy with how the day went. I thought Root soaked up the pressure and got the result at the end of the day.  He’s got a lot of 50’s in Australia so he’ll be relieved to have got a century.”

For the seventh time in a row  Stokes won the toss and this time he decided to bat. England replaced Mark Wood with Jacks as their only change from Perth while Australia resisted the temptation to play Pat Cummins bringing in  Nesser for Nathan Lyon and  Inglis replacing Usman Khawaja.  Both teams wore black armbands in memory of the former England player Robin Smith who died on Tuesday.

Day 2

AUSSIE opener Jake Weatherald hit his first Test match 50 in his second match after scoring only 23 in his first match at Perth.

Both him and his opening partner Travis Head were cautious at the beginning of their innings, Head was sedate compared to his fireworks in the second innings at Perth and let Weatherald blast away.

It took the pair four overs to open the Australian account when Weatherald late cut Gus Atkinson to the third man boundary. Two balls later he top edged a pull which went over Jamie Smith’s head.  Smith and Joe Root tried to repeat what Alex  Carey and  Marnus Labuschange did on the first night but failed as the ball went for a one bounce four.

Then Weatherald brought to Ashes cricket the kind of force hitting that he  showed playing for Barnsley for two years between 2022 and 23.  He drove Atkinson beautifully along the ground to the cover boundary after he had pulled the previous ball  to the square boundary.  In Atkinson’s next over he lent back and uppercut him over the slips for a six.

He said: “I didn’t play any differently than I normally do.  Head wanted to take Joffer  Archer and I was happy to be at the other end and watch him.  I was happy with the way I left the ball today but I pride myself on how well I leave the ball.  I think we are in a good position.”

Weatherald turned  Bryden Carse off his legs to the fine leg boundary and uppercut the next ball  to the third man boundary.  He pulled the next ball to mid-wicket for a single to bring up his 50 from 45 balls with nine fours and a six.

England should have broken the partnership early on when Head on  three, was squared up by Archer, edged it but Jamie Smith couldn’t hold on to the chance.  After that Jamie Smith was sarcastically cheered every time he caught the ball.  Later in the over Head uppercut Archer over the slips to the third man boundary.  In Carse’s first over Head threw everything at the ball and lofted it over point to boundary and sliced the next ball over the slips for another boundary.

Head  blasted Ben Stokes with real venom in  his shot  straight to the long-on boundary and then whipped him to the mid-wicket boundary.  He tried repeating the shot to Carse but didn’t middle it, got an outside edge and the ball looped to  Atkinson at mid-on.  With Weatherald he put 71 on for  the first wicket.

Weatherald late cut Archer past Ben Duckett at gully to take the second wicket partnership to 75. He tried to work Archer,bowling around the wicket, next ball to leg was hit on his pads and given out leg before.  Weatherald wanted to review it but was persuaded by Labuschange not to because television replays showed it to be halfway up the middle stump. His 72 came from balls with 12 fours and a six.


After 19 overs England introduced spin for the first time in the match and Labuschange danced down the pitch to Will Jacks and cross batted him to the boundary beating a diving Carse at mid-on. On the stroke of tea their  50 partnership came off 47 balls.

How Australia would have loved  Labuschange to be there at the close of play especially when he pulled Archer for a six over square leg.  He reached his 25th Test 50 with a feather glance off his hips  off Carse which ran to the boundary. He greeted Stokes’ return to the attack by pulling him to the square leg boundary despite the diving efforts of Jacks.

In the next over he hooked Carse for another four as Labuschange dominated the 50 partnership with Steve Smith watched and admired Labuschange shots. But Steve  Smith showed his class when he delicately drove Carse through mid-on which kept Stokes interested but the ball eventually beat him to the boundary.  Then we got a batting masterclass from Steve  Smith.

Steve Smith hit his 44th Test 50 and his 14th against England when he chopped Carse for a single through point. This 50 came from 67 balls with five fours and a six. He guided Archer where a vacant third slip or gully should have been.  Not to be outdone three balls later Cameron Green repeated the shot but with more force.

The Aussie captain top edged a  hook off Archer that went over stumper Jamie Smith’s head for one bounce four directly behind Jamie Smith.  Two balls later he delicately ran the ball off the face of his bat for a six.  Just to rub it in he hooked Carse just  over the head of Ollie Pope at long-stop for a six.

It had to take something special to dismiss Steve Smith and it certainly was.  Three balls after he lost Green he helped a legside ball from  Carse and found Jacks who stuck out his right hand and it stuck.

Green backed away from  Carse and was bowled. Carey was dropped first ball by Duckett.  Duckett dropped another catch when he dropped Inglis on 23 in the gully.

But it didn’t matter Josh Inglis was bowled by Stokes with one that came back and kept low without adding to his score. An edge by Michael  Nesser for a single took Australia into the lead. Nesser flat batted Archer straight to Carse at cover and Carse dropped a dolly

Earlier in the day Archer drove Mitchell Starc classically for a cover boundary in the second over of the day, probably the best shot he will ever make in his career.  But in the next over he pulled Brendan Doggett expecting another boundary but he was undone by a leaping Labuschange on the square leg boundary for a career best of 38. Root was unbeaten on 138 after adding four to his overnight score and for Australia Starc took six wickets for 75.

Root said: “It was good playing second fiddle to Archer, I couldn’t hit the ball as hard as him so I just let him do it.  It’s important how we approach the game tomorrow.  We didn’t start the game well but we responded well in the past,  the wheels would have come off.  We shouldn’t be looking at what’s gone before we should be excited about the prospect of winning a pink ball Test at Brisbane.”

Day 3

LAST  night Joe Root said: “The wheels hadn’t come off on Thursday”, today they did  and England  are on the verge of going two down in the series needing another 43 runs to make Australia bat again with four wickets standing.

England’s assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said: “It’s been a tough day and we’re not in a good position, they’ve put us under pressure and it wasn’t easy watching that. We are trying to play  the way we want to play but we don’t always get it right.

We made a good  start with the bat but we lost a couple of early wickets which made it challenging at the end.  Our bowlers were in the field for the best part of 100 overs in the sun which makes it hard.”

Trailing by 177, for once Mitchel Starc didn’t take a wicket in his first over as Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett raced to 45 in six overs.  But after the supper break in the second  they lost Duckett bowled  by Scott Boland’s fourth ball with one that kept low. Then they lost five wickets for 86 runs.

It looked easy to make the Aussies bat again when Crawley edged a drive off Starc that just evaded the outstretched hands of Cameron Green at gully. Ollie Pope drove straight Brendan Doggett to the long off boundary. But Pope must have had his heart in his mouth when he later  drove Doggett just over Josh Inglis at cover.  A couple of balls later he edged another drive of Doggett just wide of Steve Smith at second slip.  But his fortune ran out when he chipped Michael Nesser back to the bowler.

On the stroke of the final drinks break of the day  Crawley gave Michael Nesser his second return catch. This one was lower knee height and to his right.  Starc got the prized wicket of Joe Root when Root edged him to Alex Carey. The umpire, Adrian Holstock, gave him not out thinking Root had hit it into the ground.  Steve Smith reviewed it and the replay showed it was nowhere near the ground.

After surviving a DRS review for caught behind Harry  Brook wasn’t reprieved off the next ball when he was caught behind after the umpire had given him not out.

Jamie Smith got an outside edge to Starc  and you guessed it Carey did the rest.  Smith reviewed it and the replay showed it was out.

Earlier  Australia added 133 losing three wickets with Starc top scoring with 77. Starc hit consecutive fours off Brydon Carse through  the off side to bring up the Australian 400.  He guided Josh Archer wide of the slips for another four. On 27 he top edged a flat batted smash off Carse and the ball went up in the air and looked to be heading straight to Archer at mid-off but a combination of Archer being slow to set off with  no power in the shot meant the ball fell short off Archer.

He lofted Carse over extra cover to the boundary to take Australia’s lead to 99.  He clipped the next ball to mid-on where a misfield by Ben Stokes allowed the ball to run to the boundary and Australia went into the lead by 103.

Starc deftly placed  Stokes to the long-off boundary. He picked up Will Jacks and slog swept him over long-on for one bounce to bring up his 50 from 100 balls with eight fours. It was his 12th Test 50 but his first in Australia since December 2016. By this time the wheels had fallen off the England attack.  In the next over he drilled  Gus Atkinson straight for another four.  His confidence now growing he hit consecutive fours off Atkinson: the first through mid-on and the second through extra cover.

He blasted Atkinson for another stray four. Two balls later he lofted Atkinson over the tall Archer at mid-on  for another four. He lent back to smash Carse over wide mid-off but did hit it right as Stokes ran round from deep mid-off to take the catch just avoiding a collision with Duckett who ran round from extra cover.  He  added  75 in 35 overs with Boland who eventually got into the act  by hitting three fours.

Carey brought up his third 50, which came from 52 balls with five fours, against England and his 12th in all in the 3rd over of the day when he steered Stokes for a single through point.  His innings came to an end when he bottom edged a flash off Atkinson to Smith but England’s celebrations were muted.

England took the new ball as soon as it was available with Atkinson and the score on 405 for seven it certainly made a difference as Australia added another 106 runs in 37.3 overs with the last wicket falling to Jacks when Doggett pushed at him edged it  and Brook at slip took the catch.

Carse took four for 152, the  most runs conceded by an English seamer in a Test innings in Australia since Frank Tyson conceded 160 runs for his one wicket also at Brisbane  71 years ago.

Nesser said: “I think Starc is a special bowler, he is the greatest left handed bowler of  all time and he is just amazing.  The last spell he bowled was the quickest of the game.

Before play started our plan was to try and keep England out there as long as possible as it would be better for us with the pink new ball but we didn’t start as well as we should have.”

Day 4

AUSTRALIA beat England by eight  wickets with over a day to spare to lead the Ashes 2-0 with three to play.

The result means that Australia have won 25 Test  matches at the Brisbane after getting a first innings lead batting second and have still only lost one day/night Test at home. 

England captain   Ben Stokes said: “It’s another disappointing week.  We are two nil down with three games left and  I’ll be doing everything  I can as captain to make sure that everyone is positive, last night we lost quick wickets in  a cluster.

I’am going to  fight all the way to the end,  that’s all I wanted to focus on.  Everyone who has  got responsibility left in a  game has to  show fight. There were some  moments in this game  where we  looked  like a team but we haven't been able to carry it off.  We have still got the opportunity to do what we came out here to do.

We took 12 wickets in this match but it felt like 17 because we dropped five catches and at this level you can’t drop that many catches at this level.”

Stokes top scored for  with 50 as he and the tail battled to take the match into a final day and maybe another Ashes miracle but it was always going to be a struggle. But at times it looked on as Stokes and Will Jacks got to tea without being separated.  After tea another England batting collapse as they  lost four wickets for 17 runs in six overs.  Stokes  and Jacks  shared in a seventh wicket partnership of 96 in 37 overs  but they couldn’t take the game into a fifth day or even into the final session of the day.

England started the day  staring defeat in the eye with Stokes battling in the first hour with the same resilience he had shown on the third evening at Headingley in 2019.   In the first hour he only added 12 to his overnight score after he had  clipped Mitchell Starc off his toes to the mid-wicket boundary for England’s first boundary of the day  in the second over of the day.  He deftly placed Brendan Doggett to the extra cover boundary and  leg glanced Scott Boland to the fine leg boundary.

After the drinks interval Doggett  bowled  to Stokes,  who flat  batted him  to the long-off boundary for three, Doggett then had to race to the long-off to retrieve the ball.

A push by Jacks into the offside for a single off Boland made sure that Australia would have to bat again.  In Boland’s previous over Jacks  did well not to edge him to Alex Carey on 16.  A mistimed pull by Jacks off  Cameron Green took England into the lead.

Boland got one to rise at Stokes and take the shoulder of Stokes’ bat and the ball flew just over  Green’s outstretched left land in the gully and that was the nearest that Australia came to breaking that partnership  in the  first session  in which England added 59 runs in 24 overs.

On 35 Jacks turned Doggett off his hips  but Travis  Head at short leg couldn’t hold on to the chance and then he guided Doggett just wide off Steve Smith at slip.

On 47 Stokes was hit in the unmentionables by Boland.  In the next over he drove Doggett just wide off Marnus Labuschange at cover for a couple. He cut Doggett for a single to bring up his ninth Test 50 against Australia from 148 balls with  four fours. Without adding to his score he edged Michael Neser to Carey. 

His  partnership with Jacks was broken by a stunning one handed slip catch low to his left by Steve Smith at slip off Boland after they  added 96 in 37 overs.  Australian captain Steve Smith said: “I was pretty happy with that because of the situation of the game and it was an huge partnership.”

Two balls later Gus Atkinson survived a leg before appeal so the Aussies reviewed it and the replay showed he had got an inside edge to it. But  Atkinson soon joined Stokes back in the hutch when he pulled Doggett to Steve Smith  at square leg.

England’s innings  was wrapped up when Braydon  Carse edged Neser and rebounded off Carey’s hands standing up and into the hands of Smith at slip.  Neser finished with five for 42. Steve Smith added: “I thought Neser was sensational and I am so proud of him.  He’s been around for a few years.   It was so close between him and Nathan Lyon as to who would play but we decided  go with Neser because of his batting ability.

He added: “It’s been a wonderful couple of weeks.  A win is a win and the guys are  happy with that.  We are two Test matches up and we hope to wrap the series up at Adelaide  Everyone’s played their role.  Starc did what he’s done for forever.  All the bowlers stuck at their job because it was very humid out there today.  I thought Carey’s performance behind the stumps was something else, he finds a way to get the ball into his gloves.  And he batted beautifully.

But I am sure that England will come back at us aggressively.”

In the first over after the supper break Head tried to cut Atkinson but it was too close to him and played on.  In his next over Atkinson got one to rise at  Labuschange taking  his edge to  give Jamie Smith a routine catch. 

Steve Smith and Jake Weatherald saw Australia home  with Smith  hitting the winning runs by pulling Atkinson for a six.  In the previous over he  hooked Jofra Archer for a six to take him  to 1000 Test runs at Brisbane.

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