Australia v England, second Ashes Test: match preview

Match facts

Who: Australia v England

 

What: Second NRMA Insurance Test, men's Ashes

 

When: December 4-8, first ball 2pm local time (3pm AEDT; 4am GMT)

 

Where: The Gabba, Brisbane

 

Live scores: Match Centre

 

How to watch: Channel Seven, 7plus, Kayo Sports, Foxtel and TNT Sports (UK and Ireland)

How to listen: ABC Radio, Triple M, SEN Radio and BBC (UK only). All radio broadcasts will be available to stream in standard and real-time with no delay to live play via Cricket Radio on the CA Live app. Find out more here

 

Buy tickets: Tickets are still available for day four. Get them here

 

Officials: Adrian Holdstock and Sharfuddoula Saikat (field), Nitin Menon (third), Phil Gillespie (fourth), Ranjan Madugalle (match referee)

 

News and reactions post-play: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app. The Unplayable Podcast will also be dropping a new episode after each days' play during the Ashes. Join hosts Josh Schonafinger and Louis Cameron to recap all the action and talking points from the Gabba. And you can listen to the back catalogue of episodes below.

Listen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsListen on iHeart Radio

Second Test session times

First Session: 2pm – 4pm (3pm – 5pm AEDT; 4am – 6am GMT)

 

Second Session: 4.40pm – 6.40pm (5.40pm – 7.40pm AEDT; 6.40am – 8.40am GMT)

 

Third Session: 7pm – 9pm (8pm – 10pm AEDT; 9am – 11am GMT)

 

*An extra 30 minutes is available to complete daily overs

Full series schedule

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3.30pm AEDT

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 11am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

The squads

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

Usman Khawaja was ruled out of the Brisbane Test on Tuesday afternoon with a back injury. Captain Pat Cummins' return appears to have been put on ice with the quick left out of the hosts' squad for Brisbane. In fact, Australia have gone with the same squad as they had for the first Test in Perth. Both Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett will be hopeful they can add to their debut appearances with a second Test match cap. 

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood

England decided to send the bulk of their squad straight to Brisbane, with only reserve quicks Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts heading to Canberra to face the Prime Minister's XI in a two-day pink ball fixture. 

The XIs

Australia (possible): Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett

Usman Khawaja was ruled on Tuesday afternoon after his back injury didn't improve in time to allow him to be selected. He wasn't replaced in the squad, meaning the vacancy created in the XI will likely be filled by Josh Inglis or Beau Webster, pushing Travis Head back up to open.

Australia will confirm their XI at the toss on Thursday afternoon. Despite not being named in the squad for the second Test, Pat Cummins hasn't categorically been ruled out in what would be a return from lumbar back stress as the hosts weigh up the composition of their bowling attack for the pink-ball encounter.

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

England confirmed the XI they would use on Tuesday afternoon with Mark Wood replaced by Will Jacks being the only change. Wood was sighted at training on Monday and Tuesday with a big brace on his left knee and hasn't bowled since the Perth Test. Jacks gets the nod as the tourists' spinner ahead of specialist Shoaib Bashir as someone who offers more with the bat and in the field. 

Players to watch

Marnus Labuschagne: Australia's No.3 returns to his home ground, the Gabba, both at the venue and in day-night Test cricket. He averages 51 from seven Tests in Brisbane, with two centuries, and averages 63 from nine day-night Tests with four centuries. Let's not forget he returned to the XI with an unbeaten 51 in the run chase in Perth too.

Ben Duckett: The diminutive left-hander got a start in both innings in Perth (21 and 28), but was unable to go big, caught in the cordon in both innings. While he's never played Test cricket at the venue, Duckett does have good history at the Gabba, playing with the Brisbane Heat during BBL|11. He made such an impact with the team in teal he was awarded their MVP that season, with a best score of 54 at the Gabba.

Local knowledge

The Gabba has not exactly been a happy hunting ground for English teams of the past. Since 1933, England has won just four of their 22 matches at the Brisbane venue. They won their first two, in '33 and 1946, but since then have won just two of 20.

You have to wind the clock back to November 1986 to find England's most recent Test win in the Sunshine State, when Ian Botham's first innings 138 put the tourists on course for a series victory.

They may take solace from the team of 2010-11, who drew a high-scoring affair powered by their incredible third innings of 1-517 declared. It set the tone for a dominant series that marked the most recent time England left Australian shores as Ashes victors.

England has played in eight day-night Tests, winning just two, including their most recent appearance against New Zealand in February 2023. Australia, meanwhile, has a historically strong record at the Gabba, although it hasn't been smooth sailing in recent years.

The hosts have won just two of their past five Test matches in Brisbane, and it was their loss to India in January 2021 that famously snapped a 31-game streak without a defeat. The Aussies last won a Test at the Gabba in 2022 against South Africa, losing a thriller to the West Indies in January 2024 and drawing a rain-marred contest with India last summer.

Form guide

Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, D: draw

Australia: WWWWLWWWWD

Australia enters the second Test in hot form, having won eight of their past 10 Tests.

In fact, they have lost just three of their 19 Test matches since the 2023 Ashes, and have not lost a Test to England on home soil since January 2011.

The longer than expected break following the two-day Test in Perth won't hurt, either.

England: LLDWLWWLWW

England's recent fortunes have been mixed, having claimed victory in five of their past 10 Test outings.

Prior to the Ashes, they tied their five-Test series with India 2-2, beat Zimbabwe in a one-off encounter, and held off New Zealand 2-1 last December.

Their last series loss came in October 2024 when they went down 2-1 to Pakistan.

Broadcast details

Australian audiences will once again be able to watch every ball of this summer's Ashes series on either free-to-air on Channel Seven and its digital streaming platform 7plus, or ad-break free during play and in 4K on Foxtel and Kayo Sports.

7Cricket have recruited renowned English commentator David 'Bumble' Lloyd, who will join the crew in Adelaide for the third Test, as well as fast-bowling great Stuart Broad for the entire series, who will join Seven regulars Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden Justin Langer.

Here's the commentators you can expect to hear across the different broadcasters during the Test series:

Seven and 7plus: Greg Blewett, James Brayshaw, Stuart Broad, Trent Copeland, Aaron Finch (first two Tests only), Damien Fleming, Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Tim Lane, Justin Langer, David Lloyd (Tests 3-5), Mel McLaughlin, Alison Mitchell, Alister Nicholson, Ricky Ponting, Simon Taufel, Peter Lalor, Bharat Sundaresan

Meanwhile, Fox Cricket regulars Isa Guha and former England captain Michael Vaughan return for another summer alongside Adam Gilchrist, David Warner, Mike Hussey and Kerry O'Keeffe.

Foxtel and Kayo: Allan Border, Adam Gilchrist, Isa Guha, Mark Howard, Mike Hussey, Brendon Julian, Brett Lee, Kath Loughnan, Kerry O'Keefe, Michael Vaughan, David Warner, Mark Waugh, Mel Jones

In the UK and Ireland (as well as Isle of Man and Channel Islands), fans can watch the Ashes on subscription service TNT Sports, who will also have their own commentary team led by sports broadcasters Alastair Eykyn and Rob Hatch with expert analysis from former England internationals James Anderson, Alastair Cook, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn, Matt Prior and Ebony Rainford-Brent.

If radio is more your thing, then the ABC, Triple M and SEN will all be broadcasting the Test series this summer on Australian airwaves, while BBC has fans covered in the UK.

New this year, the CA Live app has teamed up with NRMA Insurance so you can listen to radio and commentary streams in real-time with no delay to live play using zero-latency technology. Cricket Radio (both standard and real-time) is available worldwide (except south Asian countries, UK and New Zealand) in the CA Live match centre.

Fans can listen to ABC, Triple M, SEN and BBC radio broadcasts throughout the Ashes, with TV commentary from Channel Seven and Fox Cricket exclusive to fans attending a match. Find out more here.

World Test Championship

Australia will be well pleased with their early results in the new WTC cycle, taking top spot thanks to four wins from four starts. South Africa, who defeated India 2-0, sits in second, with Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan all ahead of the sixth-placed England.

It is, of course, still early days given New Zealand is yet to play a Test during this cycle. The Kiwis are embarking on a home Test series against the West Indies this month.

The Ashes with be both Australia and England's second series of the 2025-27 Test Championship, with each of the nine competing nations to play six series (three at home and three away) during the two-year period.

The top two teams, ranked according to their percentage of points won, then face off in the WTC final in England in mid-2027. Teams receive 12 points for a Test win, six for a tie and four for draw.

Rapid stats

• Australia won the first match of the 2025-26 Ashes series by eight wickets, their fifth consecutive men's Ashes series in which they've won the opening Test; only once in the 21st century has any team won a men's Ashes series after losing the first Test (England in 2005).
  
  
• Australia are undefeated across their last nine men's Tests against England at the Gabba (won seven, drawn two) and haven't lost such a fixture there since November 1986. However, they have won only two of their last five matches at the venue overall (drawn one, lost two) after winning seven in a row there prior.

• Each of the four innings in the first match of this Ashes series ended before the team reached 250 runs – only three of the previous 19 innings in men's Ashes Test matches failed to reach 250 runs, and the last time more consecutive innings ended before 250 runs were scored came in a six-innings stretch from July to August 2001.
  
  
• Australia have won 16 of their last 21 men's Tests at home (drawn three, lost two), including their last three in a row. Meanwhile, England have lost eight of their last 11 Tests overseas, including their last two in a row. Australia are unbeaten in their last 16 home Tests against England (won 14, drawn two).
  
  
• Bowlers have a collective bowling strike rate of 74.1 at the Gabba in the men's Ashes, the second-highest rate of any venue to host a match in the series behind only the Adelaide Oval (80.7).

• Australia drew a false shot on 40.2 per cent of their total deliveries in the Ashes series opener, their highest rate in a men's Test since a rate of 42 per cent against Pakistan in 2010. Australia pace bowler Mitchell Starc has taken 36 wickets when enticing a batter into a false shot in Tests in 2025, which is the second-most of any bowler behind Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani (37).
  
  
• Travis Head (Australia) comes into this match on the back of a game-clinching century in the first Ashes Test and has scored either 80-plus runs (four times) or been dismissed for a duck (three times) in seven of his nine Test innings in Brisbane, including two scores of 152 – one of which was in his most recent Test there and the other was in the last Ashes match at the Gabba in 2021.
  
  
• Brydon Carse is the only England bowler with a Test bowling average below 20 (17.70) and a bowling economy above three (3.87) in Oceania; he's taken multiple wickets in seven of his eight innings in the region, taking 23 in total.

• Scott Boland (Australia) has taken at least one wicket in every one of his 12 first-class innings at the Gabba, taking 31 in total at an average of 15.90 in that stretch. His Test bowling average of 10.20 at the venue is the third-best of any Australian bowler to deliver at least 100 balls there (Ernie Toshack 6.5 and Jhye Richardson 9.0).
  
  
• Harry Brook (England) has reached at least 50 runs in five of seven innings when batting in England's first innings of a Test match in 2025, including one century; in fact, he's scored a half-century in England's first batting innings in each of his last three Tests against Australia.