Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain reflects on England’s two-day defeat to Australia in Perth and Travis Head’s dizzying 123 from 83 balls in the final innings, and assesses how the tourists regroup ahead of the second game in Brisbane from December 4…
I’ve seen a lot of Ashes cricket and I’ve seen a lot of Test cricket, but you have to go a long way to beat what I’ve seen these last two days.
The hype and build-up for this series have been incredible and these two days have delivered that.
The wheels came off for England with bat and ball and it was a stroke of genius for Australia to open with Travis Head. He Bazballed England’s Bazballers, let’s be honest.
Travis Head scored 123 from 83 balls as Australia beat England by eight wickets on day two of the Ashes opener
He got his tempo spot on and that is how he plays.
Before the previous Ashes I asked Ben Stokes which Australian was the big threat and he could have gone for a whole heap of players – Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne – but he said Head.
Stokes has a lot of respect for him and you can see why: when ball dominates bat, as it did in this game, you need to put a bowling attack under pressure and that’s what he did.
That’s why I used the Bazball line about him.
The slip fielders disappeared and England started bowling halfway down the pitch. He loved that, cutting and pulling. It was an outstanding counter-attacking run chase.
‘England not smart or ruthless with the bat’
In terms of England’s batting, I was very disappointed with the dismissals after lunch in both innings.
Joe Root was dismissed for eight in England’s second innings as the tourists collapsed with the bat again
On day one, the lower order, when the fields were spread on this massive ground, they still took on fielders in the deep and fell into the trap.
While on day two, with a good lead and one wicket down, they started driving on the up, which is the one thing you don’t do in Perth. Ollie Pope and Harry Brook did it and were caught at slip.
The frustrating thing with England under Stokes and Brendon McCullum is that they play so much good cricket but their one nemesis at times is that they are not ruthless when they are ahead in a game.
They don’t just say, ‘be smart now, we have got ourselves in this position, if we switch on now, we will win this Test’ and they gifted wickets in Perth.
Captain Ben Stokes’ strong character will be vital as England look to bounce back from their two-day defeat, says Hussain
I can’t complain too much about the bowlers. The way they performed on day one was about as well as I have seen an England attack bowl for a very long time in a Test match. This game was lost with those two batting collapses.
‘Mountain to climb for England – but they have character’
For now, it is all about mindset. I wouldn’t by buying a copy of the West Australian newspaper as England are going to get hammered.
They have to go into their bunker and dig deep. The one thing about this England side is that they do bounce back under Stokes and McCullum; they drew the last Ashes series in England from 2-0 down.
So they have a lot of character. They just have to show it now. But it is different in Australia. This is a defeat that will be difficult to come back from, I know that from experience.
The whole nation will go at them, start doubting them and laughing at them.
They need to remember they played a lot of good cricket in this game – and remember that when you get ahead be ruthless and smart.
It is a mountain to climb for England but they have a lot of character and a captain with a lot of character. They are going to need that.
Ashes series in Australia 2025-26
All times UK and Ireland
- First Test (Perth): Australia beat England by eight wickets
- Second Test (day/night): Thursday December 4 – Monday December 8 (4am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
- Third Test: Wednesday December 17 – Sunday December 21 (11.30pm) – Adelaide Oval
- Fourth Test: Thursday December 25 – Monday December 29 (11.30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Fifth Test: Sunday January 4 – Thursday January 8 (11.30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground