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Time to wrap things up for today. Thanks for your company, see you in the morning. Don\u2019t be late.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.55 EST<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s change of approach in numbers<\/p>\n Perth, first innings 132 runs, ten wickets, 2.91 runs per over<\/p>\n Since then 581 runs, eight wickets, 5.73 runs per over.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ali Martin\u2019s report from the Gabba.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.59 EST<\/p>\n More from Joe Root<\/p>\n It is slightly different to playing with a white ball. You still back yourself to [take catches]. We did a lot of work before the game but unfortunately it\u2019s one of those days didn\u2019t quite stick. We have to make sure we stay confident and take our chances later in the game.<\/p>\n We have to come out tomorrow with a huge amount of energy and positivity. We know that our best cricket can turn a game really quickly. If we\u2019re anywhere near our best, this game can turn in our favour. It could be very tricky batting last on their surface.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Joe Root’s talks to TNT Sports<\/p>\n He arrived in the middle of Labuschagne\u2019s interview and looked a bit sheepish.<\/p>\n [On his century] It was clearly very enjoyable. But more than anything it was just good to get in that position by the end of the day after the start we had. I\u2019ve tried not to approach it any differently to how I\u2019ve done it in the past two years \u2013 I\u2019ve got a plan to score my runs and if I do that for long enough, making good decisions, I\u2019ll be successful.<\/p>\n [On the fielding] It\u2019s clear we weren\u2019t at our best in phases of the game. The way we dragged things back in the final session shows what this game can be like, especially with the pink ball. We\u2019re got work to do tomorrow but we\u2019re well and truly in this game.<\/p>\n If we get things right in the morning and apply ourselves in our own manner, in the current fashion, we can put ourselves in a really strong position on a wicket that looks like it\u2019s plating. It looks like there might be a few cracks to work with later on in the game. First and foremost we\u2019ve got to get things right tomorrow morning.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Marnus Labuschagne’s verdict<\/p>\n That was an exciting day of cricket \u2013 jeez there was a lot happening! Awesome day.<\/p>\n Getting out for 65 just as it was changing from day to night wasn\u2019t ideal. But the boys handled it well, played with great intent and got us into a good position.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re bowling good balls in the channel at the Gabba, with the extra bounce, it\u2019s tough to score. It was a nice wicket and that plays its part. It\u2019s a little bit crack-y here and there but the majority of the time, when the ball hits the wicket it\u2019s really nice.<\/p>\n The two guys at the top grabbed the momentum; Weathers [Jake Weatherald] played beautifully. When we came in off the back of that we were able to piggyback them and continue to put pressure on.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve got the best catch of the day \u2013 Jacksy just pipped me there.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.50 EST<\/p>\n The last word from Chris Paraskevas (see earlier emails)<\/p>\n Hahahahahaha ther3 qare photos of me asleep in a hedge out there somewhere from my uni days (Not even kidding….)<\/p>\n I\u2019m never drinking again btw (rhis time it ended better last timenthe cops came around due to mutliple noise complaints and the time before that i got mugged in the park)<\/p>\n ai am making such an effort to keep my words tight right now, so much editing.<\/p>\n Also 9ne more time for the rec9rd;<\/p>\n a) these are two games that were on a platter for any team with half a cricket brain<\/p>\n b) noting my dehydration issues off 5-8 hours straight drinking how did all these cricketers in the 70s and 80s score centuries in India with 99% Blood Alcohol (presumably)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n England grassed five catches today, some of them straightforward. Matt Prior, talking on TNT Sports, says the Joe Root drop in the 70th over was definitely Jamie Smith\u2019s catch. He didn\u2019t move. Nothing scrambles an England cricketer\u2019s brain like an Ashes series away from home.<\/p>\n A significant concern for England is that this will impact the batting of Smith and Ben Duckett (who dropped two of the five catches) in the second innings. Both were already in need of runs but this will increase the pressure.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A reminder that Josh Hazlewood has suffered an injury setback.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHi Rob,\u201d says Eamonn Maloney, \u201cI\u2019m sure relying on written correspondence about cricket and various opaque subjects as one of your key social interactions is perfectly normal. E Maloney, yes, also autistic.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n And the award for the line of the day goes to\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cNo bowler born in England has taken a wicket in this series,\u201d writes Tim de Lisle. \u201cThank God for immigration!\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Stumps: Australia lead by 44 runs<\/p>\n 73rd over: Australia 378-6 (Carey 46, Neser 15) A quiet over from Jofra Archer brings an end to a scruffy but highly entertaining second day at the Gabba. There were 75.2 overs, seven wickets, 387 runs \u2013 and five dropped catches that will haunt England\u2019s dreams tonight.<\/p>\n Australia have the match and the series in their grasp: they lead by 44 runs with four wickets remaining and the tantalising prospect of bowling with a newish ball under the lights tomorrow. Tellingly, given the nature of the first-innings scorecard, all of Australia\u2019s top seven made important contributions.<\/p>\n England\u2019s effort was beyond reproach but at times they bowled far too short. Their performance was decent at times, crap at others. There is still a way England can win this game. But after only four days of actual play in the 2025-26 Ashes, they have stumbled into the last-chance saloon.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.37 EST<\/p>\n 72nd over: Australia 377-6 (Carey 45, Neser 15) Carey drives Atkinson crisply for four, then takes a pair of twos and a single to move to 45 from 44 balls. Like all the best keeper-batters, he is so good at punishing tired bowlers \u2013 but unlike most he does it in an understated way and manages risk like a top-order batter. He has matured into the most brilliant cricketer.<\/p>\n England\u2019s lack of a fifth bowler is hurting them. At least they haven\u2019t lost their fourth: Brydon Carse is back on the field.<\/p>\n \u201cDidn\u2019t click on the link for Atmosphere because I\u2019m at work,\u201d writes Charlie Tinsley, \u201cbut presume that was the Russ Abbot number? Seems a little ill fitting?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 71st over: Australia 368-6 (Carey 36, Neser 15) Neser cuts Archer for four to extend the lead to 34. Archer rebukes him with successive bouncers past his nose, both followed by pointed if slightly weary stares. Neser is batting sensibly and has added 39 precious runs with Carey.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to neurodivergence, I wonder how many OBO readers\/contributers are affected?\u201d writes John Starbuck. \u201cI myself am neurodivergent, having an arithmetical ability of, at best, a seven year old. I was seven when the figures stopped making sense \u2013 Talking Heads reference \u2013 but I was entirely captivated by cricket from about the same age. The greatest thing about following cricket is that it rarely leads to criminality, even if you have to rely on experts (normal people) for the stats.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve thought about this, actually, and have come to the conclusion that 99.94 per cent of OBO readers are neurodivergent.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 70th over: Australia 363-6 (Carey 35, Neser 11) Make that five dropped catches. Carey charges Atkinson and edges a whisty wrip to the right of Root, who can only punch the ball for four. That was a tough diving chance; he probably saw it late because Carey was whirling across the line. I reckon Root would take it six or seven times out of 10. On the TV coverage, Alastair Cook says it might have been Jamie Smith\u2019s catch.<\/p>\n Carey salts the wound by bashing a cut to the cover boundary, which makes it 11 from the first three balls of Atkinson\u2019s over. The camera cuts to Ben Stokes, who is fighting really, really hard not to grit his teeth. If he does, in his current mood, he could do as much damage to his teeth as a Kitkat chunky did to Bob Mortimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 69th over: Australia 349-6 (Carey 25, Neser 8) Neser cracks Archer towards wide mid-off, where Carse drops a simple chance. That\u2019s England\u2019s fourth dropped catch of the day, three of them relatively straightforward. Carse is normally such a good fielder; I guess that\u2019s what a long day in the field does to you.<\/p>\n To compound England\u2019s misery, he\u2019s damaged a finger and is running off the field. Not sure whether it\u2019s on his bowling hand or not; if it is, England have another problem heading their way.<\/p>\n \u201cI see Paul Griffin\u2019s Broken Heart (10.15),\u201d writes Peter Dymoke, \u201cand raise him Joy Division\u2019s She\u2019s Lost Control (or anything else for that matter by that bunch of nihilist geniuses).\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s far too upbeat. I\u2019ll consider Atmosphere<\/a> if England collapse to 50 for 9 tomorrow evening.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.17 EST<\/p>\n 68th over: Australia 346-6 (Carey 24, Neser 6) A double bowling change, with Atkinson replacing Stokes. Carey, a specialist in playing match-shaping innings between around 40 and 70, moves closer to that statistical zone by guiding three runs through mid-on.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 67th over: Australia 342-6 (Carey 21, Neser 5) A weary Jofra Archer replaces a weary Brydon Carse and shows his weariness in a nothing over that is milked for six runs. Australia are still going at more than five an over. For all the excitement and drama, when you zoom out the quality of cricket today hasn\u2019t been the best.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we approach the end of the day\u2019s play,\u201d writes Romeo, \u201cI just want to thank you (and all your colleagues) for the OBO. That is all.\u201d<\/p>\n Oi! Romeo means you, Dony, and you, Wilson, and you, Starbuck, and you, Paraskevas, snoring in a hedge somewhere, and everyone else. While it\u2019s important to recognise that the quality and popularity of the OBO is largely a result of my neurodivergent brilliance the actual cricket, you all enhance it \u2013 even, for reasons too difficult to explain after such a long day, those of you who never write in.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 66th over: Australia 336-6 (Carey 18, Neser 1) Stokes is grimacing between deliveries, occasionally feeling his left foot; it seems to be tiredness or cramp rather than anything vicious. He goes wide on the crease to hit Neser on the leg, turns to appeal for LBW, then stops to ouch his way through the pain before resuming the appeal. It was too high anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cThis last half-hour feels *Graham Smith voice* crucial,\u201d writes James Male. \u201cThe Australia of my childhood would now put together a soul-crushing partnership of 250 for the seventh wicket and destroy whatever hope I had left. This bunch are really good but thankfully not Gilchrist level!\u201d<\/p>\n Hopefully, at least for England, they\u2019re not Merv Hughes<\/a> \/ Geoff Lawson level<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.05 EST<\/p>\n 65th over: Australia 335-6 (Carey 18, Neser 1) Carey backs away to slap the weary Carse down the ground for four. What England would give not for a fifth bowler: a Potts, a Tongue, even a Cook or a Curran. Later in the over, Neser edges a single to take Australia into the lead. Realistically, and with a respectful nod to the wonderful precedent of Adelaide 1995<\/a>, I\u2019m not sure England can afford to concede a lead of more than 50.<\/p>\n (If you don\u2019t remember Phil DeFreitas\u2019s assault at Adelaide in 1995, get on YouTube. Graham Thorpe had changed the mood with a blistering counter-attack; then Daffy took Craig McDermott to the cleaners and England, down to their last 12 fit players, won spectacularly.)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 64th over: Australia 329-6 (Carey 13, Neser 0) That was the last ball of Stokes\u2019 over. Neser\u2019s selection ahead of Nathan Lyon made no sense\u2026 except in this scenario. He\u2019s a very good No8, with five first-class centuries and a career-best of 176 not out, so England are nowhere near the Australian tail.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Neser is not out! Never mind the height: there was an inside edge onto the pad and Neser survives.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n England review for LBW! Michael Neser pushes around his first ball and is hit on the pad. England plead for LBW without success and then discuss a review. Stokes thinks it might be high, but somebody else shouts, \u201cWe\u2019ve got three!\u201d so he decides to give the third umpire something to do.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.53 EST<\/p>\n WICKET! Australia 329-6 (Inglis b Stokes 21)<\/p>\n Another dropped catch! Inglis tries to cut Stokes and edges low to the right of gully, where Duckett can\u2019t hang on to a tough one-handed chance. Those two dropped catches will increase the pressure on Duckett when he bats in the second innings, especially as he\u2019s already on a king pair.<\/p>\n This\u2019ll help his mood! Three balls later Inglis is bowled neck and crop by a beautiful nipbacker. He looks at the pitch suspiciously; the ball maybe kept a bit low but he was already playing down the wrong line. Lovely bowling from Stokes, a man who won\u2019t take no for an answer.<\/p>\n Josh Inglis loses his middle stump to Ben Stokes! Photograph: Robert Cianflone\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.54 EST<\/p>\n 63rd over: Australia 327-5 (Carey 13, Inglis 21) Not for the first time today, a short ball from Carse is called wide. He\u2019ll be stiff as a board in the morning \u2013 all the seamers have bowled at least 15 overs but Carse has been the one tasked with ramming it halfway down time after time. That takes it out of even the hardiest fast bowlers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe never win at the Gabba,\u201d writes Peter Gartner. \u201cIs it 35 years since we last won there?\u201d<\/p>\n Please, don\u2019t be so melodramatic. It\u2019s 39 years.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.46 EST<\/p>\n 62nd over: Australia 325-5 (Carey 13, Inglis 20) Successive boundaries for Inglis off Stokes, an edge just wide of second slip and a crisp square drive. He\u2019s had some luck early in his innings but that was a cracking stroke. For all the euphoria of Jacks\u2019 catch, England are still in big trouble here.<\/p>\n \u201cTactical genius,\u201d says Tom Kirkpatrick. \u201c4D chess by Stokes and Carse. The four ball set up is soo obvious. Too obvious for these guys. Give them a whole innings of short ball spray.. make them really believe that you\u2019re scrap, then bring the killer blow.<\/p>\n \u201cJoke\u2019s on me for getting bored of the build-up and therefore missing these two overs of brilliance. Ahhhhh.. Test cricket!!\u201d<\/p>\n Heh. Mike Selvey told us a funny story about Javed Miandad when they played together at Glamorgan. Javed went out to bat against a spinner and kept mistiming everything, inside-edging the ball onto his pad or screwing it into the leg side. The opposing captain brought the field up, put in two or three close catchers, and then Javed helped himself to a few easy boundaries over the top. All the false strokes were deliberate.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.44 EST<\/p>\n 61st over: Australia 315-5 (Carey 12, Inglis 11) A graphic on TV shows that Australia have scored 219 runs behind square, 137 on the off side. Bloody hell! That\u2019s an indictment of how short England have bowled.<\/p>\n Carey backs away to heave Carse through midwicket for three. Carse stays around the wicket to the right-handed Inglis, who does well to get on top of a lifter and drop it short of Pope at short leg.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 60th over: Australia 309-5 (Carey 9, Inglis 9) Inglis edges Stokes between second slip and gully for four. Australia have conceded so many runs behind square on the off side today, both deliberate and inadvertent. And there\u2019s four more, slashed to the right of gully on this occasion.<\/p>\n No luck whatsoever for Stokes, who ends the over by beating Inglis\u2019s attempted drive. This is bare-knuckle cricket: Australia are scoring at 5.15 per over and England are only interested in taking wickets.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.34 EST<\/p>\n 59th over: Australia 301-5 (Carey 8, Inglis 1) Inglis works Carse for a single to get off the mark. This is only his fourth Test but he\u2019s such a good player and would walk into most teams in world cricket. He might stay in this one, too, if Australia decide to move on from Usman Khawaja.<\/p>\n Just over an hour\u2019s play remaining tonight. England lead by 33 runs.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.30 EST<\/p>\n 58th over: Australia 299-5 (Carey 8, Inglis 0) Stokes continues around the wicket to the left-handed Carey, who is beaten by a good delivery just outside off stump. No need for Australia to panic here; they have two serious players at the crease, with Neser and Starc to come and more than 20 overs until the second new ball is available.<\/p>\n Carey, on the walk, slices Stokes over and wide of gully for four. An unusually risky shot for him, but he got away with it. A more controlled stroke, a cut through point, brings Carey three more runs.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat to see Swans making an appearance in The Guardian\u2019s cricket coverage,\u201d says Hugh Boyce. \u201cCertainly wasn\u2019t on my Ashes 25-26 bingo card. Kudos.\u201d<\/p>\n I suspect we\u2019ll be hearing a lot more from them as this series develops.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 57th over: Australia 292-5 (Carey 1, Inglis 0) Josh Inglis, Leeds-born, is the new batter. Brydon Carse\u2019s figures are unique in Ashes history: 13-1-97-3.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.18 EST<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve \u2018curated\u2019 some Larkin to capture the joy of watches the Ashes,\u201d wrote Paul Griffin about ten minutes ago, \u201cand generally cheer everyone up. <\/p>\n I work all day, and get half-drunk at night.<\/p>\n Waking at four to soundless dark, I stare.<\/p>\n In time the curtain-edges will grow light.<\/p>\n Till then I see what\u2019s really always there:<\/p>\n It\u2019s going to be five-nil again isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n \u201cIf that doesn\u2019t work, I would advise playing Broken Heart by Spiritualized. Twice.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Drinks were taken mid-over after that Jacks catch. And it gets better every time you see it. The ball was behind him when he stretched out to grab it \u2013 and then he had to co-ordinate his landing so that it remained a clean catch.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.16 EST<\/p>\n Drinks: Australia trail by 42 runs<\/p>\n \u201cHey Rob,\u201d writes Robert Wilson. \u201cI can\u2019t begin to tell you how badly I have taken the passing of Robin Smith. Only 62, FFS! Some sports figures are avatars of your youth or childhood. But some are so sparklingly vivid that they feel permanent, almost geological presences, as though they are still chopping it away square decades after their retirement. He was doggedly, flashingly brilliant in an era when runs just counted more. When a spiky and defiant twenty was the equivalent of a well-judged fifty. When batting was like crocheting baby-mittens under an artillery bombardment and the ball was made of plutonium.<\/p>\n \u201cI know you knew him. I did not, of course. Yet it feels horribly personal. I think he would have been an utter legend if he had had more media game. But for me, his evident shyness or reserve added infinitely to his stature. He seemed to say his say solely through his game. And his game was all courage, audacity and flair. That square cut (which you had to see in real life to understand) was actual effrontery, brazen impudence in the bowling-dominant cricketing realities of the time. He was like an introverted pirate leading a crew of accountants. I am so sorry his life after cricket was clearly a struggle. But I am so grateful that I got to be alive when he was cleaving bowling legends to the rope at the speed of ****ing light like it was nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Yeah. It\u2019s still so raw. In cricket, it\u2019s often said that your biggest strength is also your biggest weakness. That was probably the case off the field for Judgie; he had a surfeit of empathy, felt life\u2019s everyday sadness too keenly. But it\u2019s worth stressing that, although his life after cricket was often a struggle, it certainly wasn\u2019t without joy. He never, ever stopped looking for the good in life and in people, no matter how hard things were. He adored his fianc\u00e9e Karin \u2013 who shares what Mark Nicholas called Robin\u2019s \u201cblue-sky idealism\u201d<\/a>, and is one of the kindest people I\u2019ve ever met \u2013 and his family, especially his children.<\/p>\n