Zak Crawley marks out his place after copping a pair in Perth when dismissed by Mitchell Starc in the first over of each innings,Ben Duckett stands at the non-striker’s end for England as the second Test begins at the Gabba,Here we go …Australia would have preferred to bat first and ideally manage the game so that Mitchell Starc might run wild under lights,The left-armer stands apart in pink-ball Tests with 81 wickets at a click of 17, but will take the ball under the blazing sun on day one of the second Ashes Test,James Wallace finds out – from batters who have dared to stare down Starc from 22 years – what makes him such a menace with the pink ball.

The sun is belting down in Brisbane with a touch of cloud around as the mercury hits the expected high of 27C,The players are standing around the boundary getting ready to begin the formalities at the Gabba that will include a minutes silence for the late Robin Smith,Daniel Pollard has been in touch with his memories of “the Judge”,“As a 45-year-old cricket lover my first proper technicolor memories of English cricket were the unforgiving 90s when we seemed almost always under the cosh,Certain players walking to the crease just somehow gave you the feeling that things might, just might, be OK.

Thorpey was of course one.Robin Smith was another.“Arms like cannons in the days that pounding weights in the gym wasn’t de rigueur.No grill covering his face – he didn’t fear getting pelted with 90mph missiles ball after ball after ball.But moreover you just felt here was a guy who was up for the fight.

RIP Judge,Say hi to Warnie for us,I expect the upstairs nets are pretty busy this week,”England have been happy to chase during Ben Stokes’ reign but elected to bat – and perhaps control the flow of the game – in the day-night Test at the Gabba,The tourists’ captain explains the decision and how England can bounce back from their demoralising defeat in the Ashes opener.

We come here off the back of a disappointing week last week,So hopefully we can find those runs,You look at how things play out with the different conditions, give yourself a better chance to know that you are going to bat in the, sort of, easier conditions,Not too sure how the wicket is going to play,We have got an opportunity to put runs on the board.

It’s certainly the biggest week of my captaincy up until now but we’ve had a good week and we’re raring to go.Steve Smith was the one to drop the selection bombshell and it wasn’t the one we expected with Pat Cummins increasingly likely to miss out as the players arrived at the Gabba, but the decision to leave out off-spinner Nathan Lyon.The stand-in skipper explains both calls …Pat was close.He’s done everything right.We thought it might be a bit risky for this game but he’s tracking well for the next one [in Adelaide].

Josh Inglis will bat in the middle, Head will open.Michael Neser is in for Nathan Lyon with the pink ball.We think it’s going to offer quite a bit, particularly later on under lights.We play in the night a lot and thought that was going to be the best attack to take 20 wickets.England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer.

No tomfoolery from England as Will Jacks is picked for his third Test and replaces Mark Wood in the XI that played in the defeat in Perth.The 27-year-old bolsters the tourists’ batting which runs even deeper with him in the side, though he has been picked in Brisbane just as much for his off-spin.A six-for on debut in Pakistan in 2022 suggests Jacks’ bowling will be useful if and when the pink ball softens at the Gabba, though he has only bowled another 14 overs across three Test innings since then.All eyes will be on Jofra Archer, especially with Wood now absent, when England take their turn to bowl in Brisbane.But, for now, they will hope to bat much longer than the 30-odd overs that they managed in both innings in Perth.

Good news from the middle...A BIG toss to win 👊 pic.twitter.

com/TYILwHzJisAustralia: Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (capt), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett.The speculation comes to a close but the debate will continue across the afternoon at least, as Australia turn to a horses for course approach with Nathan Lyon left out of a home Test for the first time in almost 14 years.The off-spinner was also omitted from the XI in Australia’s most recent pink-ball Test in the Caribbean, but it still feels like a huge call to leave out a bowler who has claimed 562 wickets.Michael Neser comes in to add more pace in the day-night Test, as well as reducing the length of the Australia tail.As expected, Josh Inglis replaces Usman Khawaja in the lineup for his fourth Test – though the 30-year-old will bat in the middle order with Travis Head hard to move out of the opening slot.

Ben Stokes calls correctly and England will bat first in the second Ashes Test at the Gabba.Steve Smith would have preferred to bat first as well.Steve Smith joins Ben Stokes at the toss as Australia captain Pat Cummins remains on ice to continue his recovery from a back stress issue.England and Australia will wear black armbands on day one of the second Test in memory of former England and Hampshire batter Robin Smith, who passed away earlier this week.There will also be a moments silence before the national anthems.

Tanya Aldred has written a beautiful tribute to Robin Smith, who stood tall when England cricket was at a low point through the late 1980s and early 1990s,Smith’s cut, alongside a David Gower cover drive, gave hope where there was little left in the bucket,Those famous forearms – half oak, half baobab – the white shirt unbuttoned past the clavicle, the chain glinting through his chest hair, smelt enticingly like bravery, and old spice and one last throw of the dice,The sight of Smith marching out to bat – as an opener (in four Tests), No 3 (six), No 4 (30), No 5 (19), No 6 (14) or No 7 (twice) – those charmingly indecisive selectors never could quite place him – was a high point in a largely post-Botham era, a clear-the-bars alarm for those in the ground and a stay‑your‑ground sign to those on the sofa,Our selection dilemma detectives are casting their eye over Australia’s preparations in Brisbane.

Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon have been seen getting around in flat shoes, while Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett are both wearing spikes and have marked out their run up,Ali Martin is at the Gabba and points out that this would be the first time Australia enter a home Test without Lyon since facing India at the Waca in early 2012,Meanwhile, Travis Head has confirmed on Fox Sports that he will open the innings whether Australia bat first or second,Usman Khawaja is already certain to miss the second Test for Australia after being unable to open while suffering back spasms in Perth,That of course opened the door for Travis Head to take the game away from England with a blistering century and the expectation is that the powerhouse will bat at the top of the order again in Brisbane.

What time means for Khawaja – who turns 39 this month – could well be decided in the middle over the next two (please, no) to five days.Geoff Lemon has been busy pondering what it all means for the veteran and the future of this Australia outfit.Right now Australia are saying Khawaja is still in the plan, staying with the squad in Brisbane for his treatment.If he can storm back to have a decisive influence in the final three Tests, it would be a wonderful story to round out a career that has already given us several.But there’s a point at which Khawaja becomes Homer Simpson’s giant sandwich, and the team clinging on for too long faces a health hazard.

Currently, nobody else knows what they are doing because the injured opener is the variable,Head doesn’t know if he has that job for a season or a week,Inglis won’t know if he’s coming in with licence to attack the series over four Tests, or needing a huge score from one,The argument for keeping Khawaja around since David Warner’s retirement has been stability, but right now he is the main destabilising influence on this team,We might have to wait to find out the Australia XI until either Pat Cummins or Steve Smith walk on to the Gabba alongside England captain Ben Stokes for the toss.

But Geoff Lemon has already dived into what that call will mean for the hosts and the second Test,Cummins, it seems, is now feeling good enough in training that waiting for the third Test in Adelaide seems excessive,But overnight nerves might get the better of anyone in the decision-making chain, pondering the fallout that would await them if that comeback turned out to be too soon,That leaves a nation of Australians in the highly unusual position of going to sleep the night before a Test match without knowing who will captain the team the next day,The stand-in, Steve Smith, took the press conference as though he would do the job, but declined to confirm that this would be the case.

If Cummins returns, the cards in the dealer’s hands could be whisked in various ways around the table.Perhaps in order to mitigate the number of overs required of him, he could be part of a four-man pace attack and replace Nathan Lyon.That might also mean bringing Beau Webster into the middle order, given he could offer spin.If Cummins plays alongside Lyon, instead replacing Brendan Doggett as one of three quicks, Webster could still be included to bowl backup seam alongside Cameron Green.The plot thickens at the Gabba with one of Australia’s heroes of the first Test, Travis Head, heading into the middle for a sighter of the pitch with pads on and bat in hand.

I promised the conjecture would continue and especially over whether Pat Cummins would be injected into the Australia XI after impressing in the nets in Brisbane.But if being left out of the squad was the first sign that the fast bowler would have to wait a little longer before playing a part in this Ashes series, Steve Smith inspecting the pitch alongside coach Andrew McDonald – rather than the formal Test captain – could be the strongest pointer yet.Cummins arrived earlier at the Gabba wearing a polo shirt, while the other Australia players are decked out in their training shirts.This could be elite attention to detail from Australia, but feels more likely to be the end of the fun n games.We’re back! After a two-day taster of the most highly anticipated Ashes on Australian soil for years, if not decades, was followed by 12 days of fresh dissection, discussion and debate, the second Test finally begins in Brisbane this afternoon.

Welcome to day one of the second Test of the 2025-26 Ashes.The conjecture continues with Australia yet to name their XI for the pink-ball Test at the Gabba.Captain Pat Cummins is in line for a late call-up after being left out of the squad as he recovers from a back injury, while Josh Inglis is widely expected to slide into the middle order and allow Travis Head to reprise his rollicking role as opener in the absence of Usman Khawaja.All will be revealed at the toss, stand-in skipper Steve Smith promised yesterday, as the Australia outfit unusually plays their cards close to their chest.There are fewer surprises in the England camp as Will Jacks has already been picked in the XI.

The batting all-rounder replaces Mark Wood in the side that collapsed to defeat in the Ashes opener, as the speed demon is forced out – as a precaution, we are told – due to soreness in the left knee that he happened to have surgery on earlier this year.But whether the tourists double down and roll out the same captivating yet chaotic strategy remains to be seen.It lifted England to a promising position in Perth before their own blunders with the bat and Head’s heroics loosened their grip on the first Test in a matter of hours and they quickly fell behind 1-0 in the series.More chaos can be expected in Brisbane in the next few days – and hopefully longer – as the city again hosts a day-night Test.Australia are vastly more experienced in the varied conditions and tactics that come with the pink ball being delivered across the afternoon, dusk and early evening, and have won 13 of the 14 day-night Tests they have played.

But the one blemish on that record came the last time they played with the pink ball at the Gabba, when West Indies stunned the hosts under lights in January 2024.The Gabbatoir is not quite the fortress that it once was for Australia, but they have not lost to their oldest rivals at the venue since 1986.This iteration of England under captain Ben Stokes seeks to separate themselves from those that came before but have even more history to rewrite than they might like in Brisbane.They have lost five of their seven day-night Tests, and last played with the pink ball in February 2023, though that at least ended with a victory over New Zealand at Mount Maunganui.Of more concern might be the threat of falling 2-0 behind, knowing that only one side – under the guidance of a certain Don Bradman in 1936-37 – has overturned such a deficit to win an Ashes series.

There is still an hour to go before the toss and confirmed teams – with first ball to be bowled at 2pm in Brisbane / 3pm AEDT / 4am GMT.Plenty of time to get in touch with your thoughts and predictions for the second Test and perhaps beyond – drop me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X.In the meantime, I’ll help you catch up on all that has happened during the frankly painstaking 12-day fallow period between Tests, and in the lead up to the day-nighter at the Gabba.Let’s get into it …