David Shortte’s Ashes Preview: 2nd Test

Posted on December 3, 2025December 3, 2025 | Posted by David Shortte

Australia head in to the second day-night Test at the GABBA with a 1-0 Series advantage off the back of a Mitch Starc 10 wicket haul and one of the most ballistic and timely tons in Test history from Travis Head in the first Test at Optus Stadium.

Talk about a chaotic start to the series!

19 wickets on day one followed by an action packed day two where Australia overcame a 40 run first innings deficit to win by 8 wickets.

If you hadn’t watched the match and simply saw the result you would assume the Aussies were in complete control but that certainly wasn’t the case.

England had some very positive moments through the match – the knocks of 52 from Harry Brook, 46 and 33 from Ollie Pope and 33 from Jamie Smith were glimmers of what the visitors are capable of.

England Skipper Ben Stokes was superb with the ball in the first innings taking 5/23 from his six overs but their attack lacked consistency in the second innings of the match when Travis Head took charge.

For Australia their first innings performance with the bat was alarming – the top order didn’t fire and they slumped to 6/83 before being bundled out for 132.

In the second innings the shift to the top of the order for Travis Head was the masterstroke – 123 runs off just 83 balls in an innings that completely shifted the momentum of the game and potentially the entire series.

Weatherald on debut looked better in the second innings with his 23 and Marnus Labuschagne spent some valuable time at the crease with his 51 not out.

Here are the key run scorer and wicket taker numbers after the first test.

Most Series Runs

Travis Head 144 runs at an average of 72

Ollie Pope 79 runs at an average of 39.50

Marnus Labuschagne 60 runs at an average of 60

Harry Brook 52 runs at an average of 26

Ben Duckett 49 runs at an average of 24.50

Jamie Smith 48 runs at an average of 24

Most Series Wickets

Mitch Starc 10 wickets at an average of 11.3

Ben Stokes 5 wickets at an average of 8.20

Brendan Doggett 5 wickets at an average of 15.60

Brydon Carse 5 wickets at an average of 17.80

Scott Boland 4 wickets at an average of 23.75

Joffra Archer 2 wickets at an average of 28.00

Heading in to the second Test the make ups of both sides are still yet to be bedded down but some educated assumptions can be made.

For England Injury prone Quickie Mark Wood has been ruled out leaving the door open for Will Jacks to come in to the Test side for the first time in three years.

The 27 year old has played just 2 Test matches and is better known for his white ball credentials where he has been an aggressive top order batsman that can get through some overs with his right arm off spinners. He did manage a haul of 6/161 against Pakistan in one of those two test matches but history would suggest his batting is certainly the strong suit of his game. He will be one of the more talented number 8 batsmen in recent Test history but I would be very surprised if he had any significant impact with his tweakers.

This change indicates to me that England Skipper Ben Stokes is ready to ramp up his bowling loads in this match – something he did with tremendous effect in the recent home series against India. He emerges as a nice speck bet for most wickets England in this game.

For the home side does the pink ball factor have them considering some horses for courses style of selection decisions?

Khawaja is still struggling with his back injury and he will be left out of the second test lineup leaving the door open for Josh Inglis to return to the Australian X1.

The dominance of the Travis Head performance when opening in the second innings of the first test surely has the selectors at least having some serious discussions about his potential to be a permanent fixture at the top of the order for Australia in the longest format of the game heading forward.

From a bowling perspective it appears almost anything is possible. Today there was talk that Pat Cummings could be a late surprise inclusion – time will tell in that space.

WHAT NOW?

So what will this Second Test deliver?

The Australian outfit have played in 13 day-night Tests on home shores since their inception and it must be said they have lapped them up winning 12 of them.

The Aussie fast bowling outfit have relished having the pink ball in their hands, none more so that Mitch Starc who has taken 81 wickets in 14 day-night Test matches at an average of just 17.08.

The combination of the pink ball, unusual atmospheric conditions and the period of each day where the conditions change from day to night have generally made batting very difficult in these matches.

Accordingly I am expecting this to again be a low scoring Test match where ball dominates over the willow.

Under those circumstances one or two special innings from either side could well prove the difference.

While many players have struggled in the pink ball environment Marnus Labuschagne has adapted beautifully scoring 958 runs at an average of 63.86. He has piled on four hundreds and four fifties and that average of 63.86 is a touch over 20 runs more than what he manages in day test matches.

For England I was very impressed with what I saw from Brook and Smith in the first innings of the first test – I could be tempted in to having small speck bets on them to show up for England in this match.

VERDICT

Australia’s home ground advantage, experience in day-night test matches and momentum from the first Test all lead me to the belief that they will be winning the second Test.

I actually think Australia look a more potent side with Khawaja out and Inglis in to their side.

BET WITH SHORTTE

I have some queries over the ability of the bat to prevail over ball in this match and accordingly I have prepared a bet that simply focuses in on the result and some key wicket takers.

My play is Australia to win and Starc and Stokes to combine for 7 or more wickets for the match.

Some other plays I have had on this match are :

• Top Runscorer 1^st Innings Australia : Marnus Labuschagne $5
• Top Runscorer 1^st Innings England : Harry Brook $4.25
• Top Wicket Taker – Australia Innings 1 : Mitchell Starc $2.75
• Top Wicket Taker – England Innings 1 : Ben Stokes $4

David Shortte

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