The Ashes 2025-26 - Australia vs England Preview & Prediction | 2nd Test
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A Travis Head masterclass led Australia to victory over England in a breathtaking first Test dominated by Mitchell Starc’s brilliance with the ball.
Date/time:
Venue: Brisbane Cricket Ground (The Gabba), Brisbane, Australia
Weather: Lots of sunshine across the five days of play with the only threat of any rain coming in the evening of day four. Extremely hot temperatures of up to 30c should drop into the mid-twenties as the sun gives way to clear skies in this day-night encounter.
How to watch: UK – TNT Sports / USA – Willow TV / Australia – Fox Sports and Channel 7
Australia vs England prediction
You’ll struggle to find a more thrilling start to an Ashes series than what we saw in Perth. At the end of day one, 19 wickets had fallen and England looked in prime position to push on with a healthy first innings lead in hand and potentially record what would’ve been their first Test victory in Australia since January 2011 in Sydney.
But the Aussies came roaring back as Ben Stokes’ side melted down dramatically. The batting collapsed in classic English fashion, bowled out in less than 35 overs and one Travis Head century later, the Test was over and Australia had won, again. It was an utter disaster for Stokes, England and ‘Bazball’, who were coming up against a home side without both Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
Mitchell Starc remained though and he put in a performance for the ages. Ten wickets across the match including a seven-wicket haul in the first innings, the left-arm speedster showed why he is still the gold standard when it comes to pace bowling. With the second test being a day-night match at the Gabba, it’s not going to get any easier here for England. Starc is notoriously strong with the pink ball and his numbers back that up. In 14 pink ball tests, the 35-year-old has racked up 81 wickets at an average of just 17.08.
For England, they simply cannot bat as badly as they did last time out. The fast bowlers did their job, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and captain Stokes were all excellent on the opening day before having the wind sucked out of them by the resulting batting effort, which was backed up by Travis Head’s fourth inning pyrotechnics after being promoted to opener by the hosts, his 123 ensuring a relatively painless Australian run chase.
The reality though is that the odds are not in the tourists’ favour. England’s record in Brisbane is utterly miserable, with just four test wins in 22 attempts and ‘The Gabbatoir’ has earned its nickname.
In an attempt to boost the batting, Will Jacks has been selected in place of the injured Mark Wood and serves as England’s primary spin-bowling option alongside Joe Root. As for Australia, Head will continue to open with Usman Khawaja missing out following his back spasms that affected him in the first test.
Each of the last six men’s Tests at the Gabba has seen no visiting player score a century, not since Babar Azam’s 104 back in 2019, a match that Australia won by an innings. You have to go back even further for the last English Test centurion in Brisbane, 2010 when Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott combined to grind Australia into the dirt with a second innings total of 517/1 in a high-scoring draw. That trio all reached three figures with Cook’s majestic 235 top-scoring.
Three Ashes tests have passed since then without an England player making a hundred in Brisbane and against the likes of Starc with the pink ball in hand, it’s very difficult to see that changing this time around. Therefore, back no player from England scoring a hundred in this second Test.
Australia vs England tip: England to score a hundred in the match - no
