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Key events
Time to wrap things up on the second and final day of the first Test. The second and final day.
Thanks for your company and emails on both days of a mind-blowing Test match. Goodbye!
Simon Burnton
It is the UK that is living through a cold snap, but in balmy Perth they were playing in a snow globe. The scenery was static, solid, but everything else was constantly getting shaken up, bits flying in unpredictable directions. The crowd roared, commentators gibbered, the glitter never settled.
Unlike the first day England were not batting at the start, though they were not long delayed. At which point a pattern quickly emerged, one that almost perfectly repeated that established on the previous day, while also being completely different. The bowler who was useless was good, the marginal, unconvincing snickometer-based review that was not out was now given. Some things were both precisely the same (Australia’s tactics against England’s tail, how the tail reacted to Australia’s tactics) and also, at the same time, completely the opposite (the outcome).
More from Brendon McCullum
[On England’s collapse after lunch] I thought Boland bowled exceptionally well – he hit the deck hard and his paces were up. We were on top of him in the first innings so (it was impressive) the way he came back at a pivotal moment: we were 100 ahead and only one down so that was the time for us to start to try and manoevre the game into our favour.
In the end we nicked a couple of wide ball and chopped on. Some of our high-quality players, our freewheeling cricketers, weren’t able to put pressure back on the opposition. Instead we found ourselves in a bit of a slump. That’s something we’ll have to look at again. But I never want us to go away from our style – putting opposition teams under pressure gives us our best opportunity to win games.
Yes, there are times when we have to throttle down and times when we have to power up. But the basic principle of how we operate as a team is to put pressure on the opposition. And I’ll stress: I thought 200 was a good score until Travis Head played the way he did.
We’ll let the dust settle tonight and then map out a plan (for the next two weeks) and decide whether some guys (get some time in the middle). This has come quickly and we’re disappointed, but we’re strong believers in what we’re doing.
The first innings was as good a fast-bowling performance as I’ve seen in the time I’ve been in the job. We wanted to hit Australia with hostility and pace, and it showed what is possible. We probably didn’t have enough downtime to hit them again with the same hostility in the second innings.
Brendon McCullum talks to TNT Sports
I thought 200 was a good score for us to try to defend. The way Travis Head played was absolutely outstanding; it’s one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen in a pressure situation on a tough wicket. He knocked us off our lengths. We wanted to try to hold length as long as we possibly could but he put us under so much pressure that we couldn’t do it.
I spoke to [Adam Gilchrist] just before the last innings and he said, ‘I think you guys have got 30 too many.’ We might have needed another 230 the way Travis played. If someone delivers a performance like that, you have to tip your cap. Yes, we’ll look at how we can control things better if that confronts us again, but you’ve got to acknowledge how special a knock that was – especially as he was out of position as well. I thought it was a brave call from the Australian captain and coach. Clearly they wanted to make the ball soft as soon as possible. He was superb.
We’ve been trying to insulate against reacting too strongly. We know it’ll hurt – not just us but all the people who fillow this cricket team as well. There will be a lot of chatter. For us it’s about making sure we don’t allow our confidence and our camaraderie to dip too low. We know that at our best we’re a very good cricket team. We’ve now got an extended amount of time off to get ready for Brisbane. We’ve done it before.
“At what point does someone say that it is not acceptable for England to perform like they did today?” asks Gareth Wilson. “At what point does someone say we say it’s ok to lose, you can’t legislate for how someone else plays, by by God you take responsibility for your own game and you suffer consequences when you consistently under perform? At what point does Crawley get dropped? How bad doesn’t have to be?”
I guess that’s a question for bigger cricket brains than mine. My instinct is still that it was the choice of attacking shot rather than the attacking approach per se.
Ali Martin
The news from Perth is that the catalogue of great English calamities in Australia has a brand new entry. For the first time in 104 years an Ashes Test match has been wrapped up inside just two days and England, on the receiving end of an eight-wicket thumping, may already be broken.
Ben Stokes will doubtless push back at that notion, such is his refusal to ever throw in the towel. But as Travis Head cut and carved his way to a breathtaking 69-ball century, vaporising a target of 205 in just 28.2 overs, the psychological blow landed by the hosts felt greater than their 1-0 lead.
England didn’t lose this game because of their approach with the bat; they lost it because of their choice of attacking weapon.
The match turned in the space of six deliveries this afternoon, when Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Joe Root were all out trying to cover drive – a shot fraught with risk in Perth because of the extra bounce, never mind when the ball is also moving off the seam.
“That is a crushing defeat for England in a game where everything went their way,” says Felix Wood. “The Aussies had injuries before and after the match, lost the toss, even dropped some catches. England had their dream attack, got to bowl on it before it flattened out. Huge praise to Starc and Head, great players doing great player things, but really two top performances was all it took and England fell apart.”
The cricket’s done and dusted, so why not feast yourself on all our other live coverage this weekend.
And Travis Head didn’t even make the cut
Steve Smith’s reaction
Good start, wasn’t it? A two-dayer, which you love as a team when you’re on the right side of it. Today was just incredible. That innings from Travis Head was out of this world. He played some outrageous shots – and even when he shanked it he seemed to hit the gap! When you’re on, you’re on. He made the most of it and got us home.
We were thinking of a few options to open – Nathan Lyon was talked about – and didn’t quite like how it went in the first innings. Travis said he wanted to do it and I was like, ‘Mate, go for your life.’
My gosh, I think it’s right up there with knocks I’ve seen from everyone. Fourth innings, albeit day two; he played some nice shots to start and when they went to the short ball he was toying with them.
[On Mitchell Starc] He was unbelievable. Two of the big three out, a lot on his shoulders as leader of the attack. He bowled beautifully. In the first innings we had a terrible cricket ball and the boys were struggling to keep the seam up straihgt; the way he bowled was incredible. All of our bowlers backed it up beautifully today. Scott Boland was exceptional, his lengths were magnificent, and Starcy bowled like a genius.
[On the debutants] Doggy did really well, he got some key wickets and had some good plans. And Jake had a rough start but the way he came out with Trav today was outstanding. It really set us up for the rest of the innings.
[On Pat Cummins] He’s an absolute weapon, the skipper and arguably the best bowler in the world. Of course we want him back. We’ll wait and see.
Ben Stokes’ reaction
Little bit shell-shocked there. That innings from Travis Head was pretty phenomenal. It’s quite raw, quite fresh at the moment. But sheesh, that was some knock.
[On England’s approach] If you look at the way the game played out, the guys who had success with the bat were the ones who were really brave and took the game on. I guess if we were to look back… never think you’ve got enough. If you’re the guy who’s managed to get in, try and give yourself the best chance of going on. But as we saw, anyone who tried to occupy the crease didn’t have much success.
That knock from Travis: yeah, it’s knocked the wind out of us. We tried three or four different plans against him. He was going like a train and when he’s going like that he’s very hard to stop.
The way we bowled yesterday was simply phenomenal. We felt we were in control fo the game when we came out to bowl in the fourth innings, so it’s a tough one to take. But we’ve got four more games to come. Let this sink in, get our heads round it and go from there.
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The player of the match is Mitchell Starc
Aww, Travis Head! To take the game on like that and to come up trumps, that was something to watch, yeah.
It was a helter-skelter two days for both sides. We tried to stick to our guns and do what we do well as a group. You can’t go home not happy with the entertainment across the two days.
I was pretty calm all week. It’s the first time in a while I haven’t had Josh and Pat around, but Scotty’s been here a long time and I’ve known Doggy for a while; he’s fantastic. I’m really pleased I played a role.
More from Travis Head
They’ve got a serious fast bowling attack. I tried to play the sides, to hit down breeze as much as I could, whether that’s giving myself room to carve or pulling when I’m down this end.
[When you saw how the wicket played yesterday, did you imagine you could get a century?] No, no. Shit no. It’s an intimidating place to bat and you can have some sleepless nights with the cracks. It was a pretty good wicket today, being day two, and it’s nice not to have to bat on days four and five.
[On the standing ovation he received from both sets of fans] I’m no good at getting red ink (he was also out just before the end of the 2023 World Cup final after a stunning century). Once I get to that stage I want to get off the field as quick as I possibly can, whether that’s with boundaries or getting out. Yeah, cool moment.
If that’s anything to go by, it’s gonna be a helluva series.
Travis Head’s reaction
[Talk us through the emotions of that…] I don’t think you can, can ya? Nah, good stuff, it’s nice. Jeez, it was a tough two days. They’re a seriously good outfit. Starkie led us and we couldn’t let that 7/50 slip. Yeah, it’s nice to contribute.
[Have you processed what you’ve just done?] Nah, not even close.
[When did you tell the captain you wanted to open?] Two years ago! Nah, I was happy to do it; it doesn’t bother me too much. Look, I’ve floated the idea but it’s nice to be able to play a role today. I thought Weathers played beautifully as well.
[Whose decision was it?] Coach, captain. We threw a few ideas around, the senior players throughout the room. There were two or three options. I was pretty keen to do it. Luckily Smith and Ron let me do it.
I could easily have been out in the first over. Didn’t really matter: I thought that was the right process, the right way of thinking. Go out there and see what happens, and it worked today.
It’s nice to set the tone in the series. I feel sorry for the 60,000 that were due to come here tomorrow! What a start.
They’re got a serious fast bowling attack. I tried to play the sides, to hit down breeze as much as I could, whether that’s giving myself room to carve or pulling when I’m down this end.
The two sets of players shake hands on the field, with the England players all stopping to properly congratulate Travis Head. You can’t even hate the bloke, he’s utterly adorable. It’s not like they’ve been beaten by some grizzled old bugger who deals in remorseless hundreds and four-letter words, just an exceptionally likeable, everyday bloke with the unique ability to decide the games that matter most.
AUSTRALIA WIN BY EIGHT WICKETS!
28.1 overs: Australia 204-2 (Labuschagne 51, Smith 2) Welcome to Mastermind. Your first Mastermind question is: who scored the winning runs when Australia were victorious in the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921?
Steve Smith, of course, with a single off Brydon Carse. It’s hard to know what to say, because we’ve never seen anything like that before. Three hours ago England were well on course for a 1-0 victory, or so it seemed. And then, and then. Well, books will be written about what happened next.
28th over: Australia 204-2 (Labuschagne 51, Smith 1) Joe Root comes on and is pumped through mid-off for four by Labuschagne. This is savage.
Labuschagne, who 24 hours ago was hanging on for dear life, clubs six over wide long-on to reach a 49-ball fifty. The scores are level; the morale is not.
“Jesus,” says Robert Wilson. “This is a caning…”
27th over: Australia 192-2 (Labuschagne 40, Smith 0) Travis Head averages 42 in Test cricket. He is also one of the greatest matchwinners ever to play the game.
WICKET! Australia 192-2 (Head c Pope b Carse 123)
Carse replaces whoever was bowling before him. Head launches him over square leg for four, pulls him savagely through midwicket for four – and then holes out to deep midwicket to end an innings of unique brilliance: 123 from 83 balls in an otherwise extremely low-scoring match. And it was the first Test, the one that sets the tone for the next seven weeks.
It’s the first matchwinning hundred in the fourth innings of an opening Ashes Test. Ben Stokes and a few England players run across to congratultae him as he makes his way off to a standing ovation.
Hey, have you heard this great new pop song?
26th over: Australia 182-1 (Head 113, Labuschagne 40) Labuschagne hits a four, don’t ask me where. Head scorches Atkinson down the ground for another, steers a third over backward point. That brings up the hundred partnership is about seven minutes.
A horrible over from Atkinson includes two wides as he tries to hide the ball from Head. Labuschagne slugs four more to make it 20 from the over.
Australia have scored 154 in the last 19 overs.
25th over: Australia 162-1 (Head 104, Labuschagne 31) One of these decades, we’ll realise the Australian team of 2017-26 were one of the all-time greats. They’ve been world champions in every format, wiped the floor with most opposition and, best of all, overcoming industrial quantities of adversity in many of their most famous victories. Now, as Will Vignoles wrote earlier, they have their equivalent to Adelaide 2006.
“Having missed the whole day yesterday, I did my usual compensating bottom-up read, suspending disbelief and time itself, pretending I didn’t know a clatter of wickets had fallen and that Stokes had burgled a fivefer,” writes Robert Wilson. “It’s an act of anti-imagination in its way, self-hypnosis or incantation, and it’s amazing how well it works. Very occasionally, it’s nearly better than watching.
“It is a strangely time-travelling form, the OBO. Like a ship’s log. You guys are superbly present tense. Impeccably immediate, responsive and alert. The form is filled the sense that the future hasn’t happened yet – even nine or ten hours later after it was written. This shit is the NOW!
“What’s remarkable is how few hostages to fortune you old OBO lags give. In the rolling urgency of the arrival of the now, there is very little immediately contradicted opining – not much Starc is past it, Stokes is a busted flush and Travis Head is a fat git. That’s pretty astonishing. It’s almost like you guys like the future. Or cricket, or something.
“Noice. Keep it coming.”
Keep it coming? After this? Do you want some?
24th over: Australia 160-1 (Head 103, Labuschagne 30) Head backs away to Atkinson, tries a tennis slam with both feet off the ground and top-edges the ball to safety on the leg side. No idea how that didn’t go to hand, though it wouldn’t really matter if it did. An England bowler could take a double hat-trick and the game would still be touch and go.
Play has been extended by an extra half an hour, so this will be the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921. That game had a rest day in the middle. England could do with a rest year to get over this.
“Let’s take the positives, Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “At least the England players, and indeed us OBOers, will be able to go over there and do whatever it was we were going to do for the weekend now.”
I wasn’t aware I’d made plans to spend the entire weekend weeping like a bairn, because that’s what I’ll be doing now.
23rd over: Australia 154-1 (Head 101, Labuschagne 26) Head’s epiphany predates Bazball – remember his 148-ball 152 at the Gabba in 2021-22 – and this innings could put Bazball six feet under. I’m not sure how you come back from this. I know Australia did a year ago after being slaughtered by India, but they were on home soil and had plenty of credit in the bank.
Even Labuschagne is rubbing England’s nose in the filth; he backs away to flat-bat Archer through extra cover for four. The pitch looks so benign now. Maybe it’s a trick of the light. Maybe…
“I’m at the match, seeing the pitch up close,” says George Thomson. “Head has been brilliant but the pitch is now a pancake. That is why Atkinson and Carse could do what they did. It turned quite quickly. England’s fantastic bowling yesterday covered up a fantastically bad first batting innings, and the second matched it. They needed Australia chasing 350+. Sadly we will see a whitewash from here; Bazball doesn’t produce draws!”
Travis Head makes an amazing 69-ball hundred!
22nd over: Australia 147-1 (Head 100, Labuschagne 20) Head wallops Atkinson for four to move to 99. A single behind square on the off side takes him an astonishing, high-speed hundred: 69 balls, 12 fours, four sixes. It’s the joint third fastest for Australia in a Test; only Adam Gilchrist, at the Waca in 2006-07, has scored a faster Ashes hundred.
As an England fan this hurts like hell. But if you don’t love everything about Travis Head – his courage, skill, audacity, selflessness, attitude to life and sport, even that jaunty moustache – you need to seek urgent medical assistance. The phrase is execrable, but by god he is living life to the max.
21st over: Australia 136-1 (Head 93, Labuschagne 19) Never, ever have I ever felt do low has there been a matchwinning fourth-innings century in the opening Test of an Ashes series. But then there have been very few cricketers with the matchwinning range of this moustache-wearing freak.
“You’re so right about the majestic Travis Head,” writes Rob Lewis. “But still, after 60 years following England (dissolves in tears).”
Funny you should say that, Rob, because I just found this exclusive clip of every England cricket supporter in the whole wide world.
20th over: Australia 136-1 (Head 92, Labuschagne 18) This isn’t a Test match, it’s a T10 game. Head carves and flick-pulls successive boundaries off Atkinson, and by the end of the over he has 92 from 63 balls. That includes 41 from his last 19 deliveries; it’s the batting equivalent of Mitchell Johnson’s spell at the Gabba in 2013-14.
“Hi Rob,” says Angus Chisholm. “Another Ashes series, another gradual but inexorable fatalistic meltdown in the guardian OBO. We are, as they say, so back.”
19th over: Australia 127-1 (Head 84, Labuschagne 17) Archer returns, almost certainly too late. Labuschagne uppercuts for four; Head tries a similar stroke and is beaten. No matter: he pulls the next ball for four, slugs the one after that over mid-on for six. Even by Head’s standards, the chutzpah of this innings is quite something; he’s 84 not out from 59 balls.
The last two-day Ashes Test, since you asked, was in 1921. And I was there!
18th over: Australia 111-1 (Head 73, Labuschagne 12) After being in such a strong position, any defeat would have been devastating for England. But this… this is resounding, shattering. If England come back fom this to regain the Ashes, a salut.
Ah, sod England, let’s just celebrate the wonder of Travis Head. He waves Atkinson sweetly between extra cover and mid-off for four to move into the seventies, 73 not out from 55 balls to be precise.
When you’re a kid and you daydream about playing sport for your country, what do you want to achieve? More than anything – even an average of 60 with the bat – you want to entertain, to win the biggest matches for your country and your mates; to have fun and enjoy a psychological freedom that most people never feel. Travis Head is everything a sportsman or woman should be.
17th over: Australia 106-1 (Head 68, Labuschagne 12) England had managed to slow the scoring. Head pummels Stokes for three successive boundaries – cover drive, pull, drive through mid-off – to bring up the Australia hundred. For good measure he pulls another two balls later. Seventeen from the over.
With the obvious exception of Headingley 1948 and Joe Darling’s awesome 160 at Sydney in 1898, I can’t think of many better performances by an Australia batter in the fourth innings of Ashes Test.
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Key events
Time to wrap things up on the second and final day of the first Test. The second and final day.
Thanks for your company and emails on both days of a mind-blowing Test match. Goodbye!
Simon Burnton
It is the UK that is living through a cold snap, but in balmy Perth they were playing in a snow globe. The scenery was static, solid, but everything else was constantly getting shaken up, bits flying in unpredictable directions. The crowd roared, commentators gibbered, the glitter never settled.
Unlike the first day England were not batting at the start, though they were not long delayed. At which point a pattern quickly emerged, one that almost perfectly repeated that established on the previous day, while also being completely different. The bowler who was useless was good, the marginal, unconvincing snickometer-based review that was not out was now given. Some things were both precisely the same (Australia’s tactics against England’s tail, how the tail reacted to Australia’s tactics) and also, at the same time, completely the opposite (the outcome).
More from Brendon McCullum
[On England’s collapse after lunch] I thought Boland bowled exceptionally well – he hit the deck hard and his paces were up. We were on top of him in the first innings so (it was impressive) the way he came back at a pivotal moment: we were 100 ahead and only one down so that was the time for us to start to try and manoevre the game into our favour.
In the end we nicked a couple of wide ball and chopped on. Some of our high-quality players, our freewheeling cricketers, weren’t able to put pressure back on the opposition. Instead we found ourselves in a bit of a slump. That’s something we’ll have to look at again. But I never want us to go away from our style – putting opposition teams under pressure gives us our best opportunity to win games.
Yes, there are times when we have to throttle down and times when we have to power up. But the basic principle of how we operate as a team is to put pressure on the opposition. And I’ll stress: I thought 200 was a good score until Travis Head played the way he did.
We’ll let the dust settle tonight and then map out a plan (for the next two weeks) and decide whether some guys (get some time in the middle). This has come quickly and we’re disappointed, but we’re strong believers in what we’re doing.
The first innings was as good a fast-bowling performance as I’ve seen in the time I’ve been in the job. We wanted to hit Australia with hostility and pace, and it showed what is possible. We probably didn’t have enough downtime to hit them again with the same hostility in the second innings.
Brendon McCullum talks to TNT Sports
I thought 200 was a good score for us to try to defend. The way Travis Head played was absolutely outstanding; it’s one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen in a pressure situation on a tough wicket. He knocked us off our lengths. We wanted to try to hold length as long as we possibly could but he put us under so much pressure that we couldn’t do it.
I spoke to [Adam Gilchrist] just before the last innings and he said, ‘I think you guys have got 30 too many.’ We might have needed another 230 the way Travis played. If someone delivers a performance like that, you have to tip your cap. Yes, we’ll look at how we can control things better if that confronts us again, but you’ve got to acknowledge how special a knock that was – especially as he was out of position as well. I thought it was a brave call from the Australian captain and coach. Clearly they wanted to make the ball soft as soon as possible. He was superb.
We’ve been trying to insulate against reacting too strongly. We know it’ll hurt – not just us but all the people who fillow this cricket team as well. There will be a lot of chatter. For us it’s about making sure we don’t allow our confidence and our camaraderie to dip too low. We know that at our best we’re a very good cricket team. We’ve now got an extended amount of time off to get ready for Brisbane. We’ve done it before.
“At what point does someone say that it is not acceptable for England to perform like they did today?” asks Gareth Wilson. “At what point does someone say we say it’s ok to lose, you can’t legislate for how someone else plays, by by God you take responsibility for your own game and you suffer consequences when you consistently under perform? At what point does Crawley get dropped? How bad doesn’t have to be?”
I guess that’s a question for bigger cricket brains than mine. My instinct is still that it was the choice of attacking shot rather than the attacking approach per se.
Ali Martin
The news from Perth is that the catalogue of great English calamities in Australia has a brand new entry. For the first time in 104 years an Ashes Test match has been wrapped up inside just two days and England, on the receiving end of an eight-wicket thumping, may already be broken.
Ben Stokes will doubtless push back at that notion, such is his refusal to ever throw in the towel. But as Travis Head cut and carved his way to a breathtaking 69-ball century, vaporising a target of 205 in just 28.2 overs, the psychological blow landed by the hosts felt greater than their 1-0 lead.
England didn’t lose this game because of their approach with the bat; they lost it because of their choice of attacking weapon.
The match turned in the space of six deliveries this afternoon, when Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Joe Root were all out trying to cover drive – a shot fraught with risk in Perth because of the extra bounce, never mind when the ball is also moving off the seam.
“That is a crushing defeat for England in a game where everything went their way,” says Felix Wood. “The Aussies had injuries before and after the match, lost the toss, even dropped some catches. England had their dream attack, got to bowl on it before it flattened out. Huge praise to Starc and Head, great players doing great player things, but really two top performances was all it took and England fell apart.”
The cricket’s done and dusted, so why not feast yourself on all our other live coverage this weekend.
And Travis Head didn’t even make the cut
Steve Smith’s reaction
Good start, wasn’t it? A two-dayer, which you love as a team when you’re on the right side of it. Today was just incredible. That innings from Travis Head was out of this world. He played some outrageous shots – and even when he shanked it he seemed to hit the gap! When you’re on, you’re on. He made the most of it and got us home.
We were thinking of a few options to open – Nathan Lyon was talked about – and didn’t quite like how it went in the first innings. Travis said he wanted to do it and I was like, ‘Mate, go for your life.’
My gosh, I think it’s right up there with knocks I’ve seen from everyone. Fourth innings, albeit day two; he played some nice shots to start and when they went to the short ball he was toying with them.
[On Mitchell Starc] He was unbelievable. Two of the big three out, a lot on his shoulders as leader of the attack. He bowled beautifully. In the first innings we had a terrible cricket ball and the boys were struggling to keep the seam up straihgt; the way he bowled was incredible. All of our bowlers backed it up beautifully today. Scott Boland was exceptional, his lengths were magnificent, and Starcy bowled like a genius.
[On the debutants] Doggy did really well, he got some key wickets and had some good plans. And Jake had a rough start but the way he came out with Trav today was outstanding. It really set us up for the rest of the innings.
[On Pat Cummins] He’s an absolute weapon, the skipper and arguably the best bowler in the world. Of course we want him back. We’ll wait and see.
Ben Stokes’ reaction
Little bit shell-shocked there. That innings from Travis Head was pretty phenomenal. It’s quite raw, quite fresh at the moment. But sheesh, that was some knock.
[On England’s approach] If you look at the way the game played out, the guys who had success with the bat were the ones who were really brave and took the game on. I guess if we were to look back… never think you’ve got enough. If you’re the guy who’s managed to get in, try and give yourself the best chance of going on. But as we saw, anyone who tried to occupy the crease didn’t have much success.
That knock from Travis: yeah, it’s knocked the wind out of us. We tried three or four different plans against him. He was going like a train and when he’s going like that he’s very hard to stop.
The way we bowled yesterday was simply phenomenal. We felt we were in control fo the game when we came out to bowl in the fourth innings, so it’s a tough one to take. But we’ve got four more games to come. Let this sink in, get our heads round it and go from there.
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The player of the match is Mitchell Starc
Aww, Travis Head! To take the game on like that and to come up trumps, that was something to watch, yeah.
It was a helter-skelter two days for both sides. We tried to stick to our guns and do what we do well as a group. You can’t go home not happy with the entertainment across the two days.
I was pretty calm all week. It’s the first time in a while I haven’t had Josh and Pat around, but Scotty’s been here a long time and I’ve known Doggy for a while; he’s fantastic. I’m really pleased I played a role.
More from Travis Head
They’ve got a serious fast bowling attack. I tried to play the sides, to hit down breeze as much as I could, whether that’s giving myself room to carve or pulling when I’m down this end.
[When you saw how the wicket played yesterday, did you imagine you could get a century?] No, no. Shit no. It’s an intimidating place to bat and you can have some sleepless nights with the cracks. It was a pretty good wicket today, being day two, and it’s nice not to have to bat on days four and five.
[On the standing ovation he received from both sets of fans] I’m no good at getting red ink (he was also out just before the end of the 2023 World Cup final after a stunning century). Once I get to that stage I want to get off the field as quick as I possibly can, whether that’s with boundaries or getting out. Yeah, cool moment.
If that’s anything to go by, it’s gonna be a helluva series.
Travis Head’s reaction
[Talk us through the emotions of that…] I don’t think you can, can ya? Nah, good stuff, it’s nice. Jeez, it was a tough two days. They’re a seriously good outfit. Starkie led us and we couldn’t let that 7/50 slip. Yeah, it’s nice to contribute.
[Have you processed what you’ve just done?] Nah, not even close.
[When did you tell the captain you wanted to open?] Two years ago! Nah, I was happy to do it; it doesn’t bother me too much. Look, I’ve floated the idea but it’s nice to be able to play a role today. I thought Weathers played beautifully as well.
[Whose decision was it?] Coach, captain. We threw a few ideas around, the senior players throughout the room. There were two or three options. I was pretty keen to do it. Luckily Smith and Ron let me do it.
I could easily have been out in the first over. Didn’t really matter: I thought that was the right process, the right way of thinking. Go out there and see what happens, and it worked today.
It’s nice to set the tone in the series. I feel sorry for the 60,000 that were due to come here tomorrow! What a start.
They’re got a serious fast bowling attack. I tried to play the sides, to hit down breeze as much as I could, whether that’s giving myself room to carve or pulling when I’m down this end.
The two sets of players shake hands on the field, with the England players all stopping to properly congratulate Travis Head. You can’t even hate the bloke, he’s utterly adorable. It’s not like they’ve been beaten by some grizzled old bugger who deals in remorseless hundreds and four-letter words, just an exceptionally likeable, everyday bloke with the unique ability to decide the games that matter most.
AUSTRALIA WIN BY EIGHT WICKETS!
28.1 overs: Australia 204-2 (Labuschagne 51, Smith 2) Welcome to Mastermind. Your first Mastermind question is: who scored the winning runs when Australia were victorious in the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921?
Steve Smith, of course, with a single off Brydon Carse. It’s hard to know what to say, because we’ve never seen anything like that before. Three hours ago England were well on course for a 1-0 victory, or so it seemed. And then, and then. Well, books will be written about what happened next.
28th over: Australia 204-2 (Labuschagne 51, Smith 1) Joe Root comes on and is pumped through mid-off for four by Labuschagne. This is savage.
Labuschagne, who 24 hours ago was hanging on for dear life, clubs six over wide long-on to reach a 49-ball fifty. The scores are level; the morale is not.
“Jesus,” says Robert Wilson. “This is a caning…”
27th over: Australia 192-2 (Labuschagne 40, Smith 0) Travis Head averages 42 in Test cricket. He is also one of the greatest matchwinners ever to play the game.
WICKET! Australia 192-2 (Head c Pope b Carse 123)
Carse replaces whoever was bowling before him. Head launches him over square leg for four, pulls him savagely through midwicket for four – and then holes out to deep midwicket to end an innings of unique brilliance: 123 from 83 balls in an otherwise extremely low-scoring match. And it was the first Test, the one that sets the tone for the next seven weeks.
It’s the first matchwinning hundred in the fourth innings of an opening Ashes Test. Ben Stokes and a few England players run across to congratultae him as he makes his way off to a standing ovation.
Hey, have you heard this great new pop song?
26th over: Australia 182-1 (Head 113, Labuschagne 40) Labuschagne hits a four, don’t ask me where. Head scorches Atkinson down the ground for another, steers a third over backward point. That brings up the hundred partnership is about seven minutes.
A horrible over from Atkinson includes two wides as he tries to hide the ball from Head. Labuschagne slugs four more to make it 20 from the over.
Australia have scored 154 in the last 19 overs.
25th over: Australia 162-1 (Head 104, Labuschagne 31) One of these decades, we’ll realise the Australian team of 2017-26 were one of the all-time greats. They’ve been world champions in every format, wiped the floor with most opposition and, best of all, overcoming industrial quantities of adversity in many of their most famous victories. Now, as Will Vignoles wrote earlier, they have their equivalent to Adelaide 2006.
“Having missed the whole day yesterday, I did my usual compensating bottom-up read, suspending disbelief and time itself, pretending I didn’t know a clatter of wickets had fallen and that Stokes had burgled a fivefer,” writes Robert Wilson. “It’s an act of anti-imagination in its way, self-hypnosis or incantation, and it’s amazing how well it works. Very occasionally, it’s nearly better than watching.
“It is a strangely time-travelling form, the OBO. Like a ship’s log. You guys are superbly present tense. Impeccably immediate, responsive and alert. The form is filled the sense that the future hasn’t happened yet – even nine or ten hours later after it was written. This shit is the NOW!
“What’s remarkable is how few hostages to fortune you old OBO lags give. In the rolling urgency of the arrival of the now, there is very little immediately contradicted opining – not much Starc is past it, Stokes is a busted flush and Travis Head is a fat git. That’s pretty astonishing. It’s almost like you guys like the future. Or cricket, or something.
“Noice. Keep it coming.”
Keep it coming? After this? Do you want some?
24th over: Australia 160-1 (Head 103, Labuschagne 30) Head backs away to Atkinson, tries a tennis slam with both feet off the ground and top-edges the ball to safety on the leg side. No idea how that didn’t go to hand, though it wouldn’t really matter if it did. An England bowler could take a double hat-trick and the game would still be touch and go.
Play has been extended by an extra half an hour, so this will be the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921. That game had a rest day in the middle. England could do with a rest year to get over this.
“Let’s take the positives, Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “At least the England players, and indeed us OBOers, will be able to go over there and do whatever it was we were going to do for the weekend now.”
I wasn’t aware I’d made plans to spend the entire weekend weeping like a bairn, because that’s what I’ll be doing now.
23rd over: Australia 154-1 (Head 101, Labuschagne 26) Head’s epiphany predates Bazball – remember his 148-ball 152 at the Gabba in 2021-22 – and this innings could put Bazball six feet under. I’m not sure how you come back from this. I know Australia did a year ago after being slaughtered by India, but they were on home soil and had plenty of credit in the bank.
Even Labuschagne is rubbing England’s nose in the filth; he backs away to flat-bat Archer through extra cover for four. The pitch looks so benign now. Maybe it’s a trick of the light. Maybe…
“I’m at the match, seeing the pitch up close,” says George Thomson. “Head has been brilliant but the pitch is now a pancake. That is why Atkinson and Carse could do what they did. It turned quite quickly. England’s fantastic bowling yesterday covered up a fantastically bad first batting innings, and the second matched it. They needed Australia chasing 350+. Sadly we will see a whitewash from here; Bazball doesn’t produce draws!”
Travis Head makes an amazing 69-ball hundred!
22nd over: Australia 147-1 (Head 100, Labuschagne 20) Head wallops Atkinson for four to move to 99. A single behind square on the off side takes him an astonishing, high-speed hundred: 69 balls, 12 fours, four sixes. It’s the joint third fastest for Australia in a Test; only Adam Gilchrist, at the Waca in 2006-07, has scored a faster Ashes hundred.
As an England fan this hurts like hell. But if you don’t love everything about Travis Head – his courage, skill, audacity, selflessness, attitude to life and sport, even that jaunty moustache – you need to seek urgent medical assistance. The phrase is execrable, but by god he is living life to the max.
21st over: Australia 136-1 (Head 93, Labuschagne 19) Never, ever have I ever felt do low has there been a matchwinning fourth-innings century in the opening Test of an Ashes series. But then there have been very few cricketers with the matchwinning range of this moustache-wearing freak.
“You’re so right about the majestic Travis Head,” writes Rob Lewis. “But still, after 60 years following England (dissolves in tears).”
Funny you should say that, Rob, because I just found this exclusive clip of every England cricket supporter in the whole wide world.
20th over: Australia 136-1 (Head 92, Labuschagne 18) This isn’t a Test match, it’s a T10 game. Head carves and flick-pulls successive boundaries off Atkinson, and by the end of the over he has 92 from 63 balls. That includes 41 from his last 19 deliveries; it’s the batting equivalent of Mitchell Johnson’s spell at the Gabba in 2013-14.
“Hi Rob,” says Angus Chisholm. “Another Ashes series, another gradual but inexorable fatalistic meltdown in the guardian OBO. We are, as they say, so back.”
19th over: Australia 127-1 (Head 84, Labuschagne 17) Archer returns, almost certainly too late. Labuschagne uppercuts for four; Head tries a similar stroke and is beaten. No matter: he pulls the next ball for four, slugs the one after that over mid-on for six. Even by Head’s standards, the chutzpah of this innings is quite something; he’s 84 not out from 59 balls.
The last two-day Ashes Test, since you asked, was in 1921. And I was there!
18th over: Australia 111-1 (Head 73, Labuschagne 12) After being in such a strong position, any defeat would have been devastating for England. But this… this is resounding, shattering. If England come back fom this to regain the Ashes, a salut.
Ah, sod England, let’s just celebrate the wonder of Travis Head. He waves Atkinson sweetly between extra cover and mid-off for four to move into the seventies, 73 not out from 55 balls to be precise.
When you’re a kid and you daydream about playing sport for your country, what do you want to achieve? More than anything – even an average of 60 with the bat – you want to entertain, to win the biggest matches for your country and your mates; to have fun and enjoy a psychological freedom that most people never feel. Travis Head is everything a sportsman or woman should be.
17th over: Australia 106-1 (Head 68, Labuschagne 12) England had managed to slow the scoring. Head pummels Stokes for three successive boundaries – cover drive, pull, drive through mid-off – to bring up the Australia hundred. For good measure he pulls another two balls later. Seventeen from the over.
With the obvious exception of Headingley 1948 and Joe Darling’s awesome 160 at Sydney in 1898, I can’t think of many better performances by an Australia batter in the fourth innings of Ashes Test.
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Key events
Time to wrap things up on the second and final day of the first Test. The second and final day.
Thanks for your company and emails on both days of a mind-blowing Test match. Goodbye!
Simon Burnton
It is the UK that is living through a cold snap, but in balmy Perth they were playing in a snow globe. The scenery was static, solid, but everything else was constantly getting shaken up, bits flying in unpredictable directions. The crowd roared, commentators gibbered, the glitter never settled.
Unlike the first day England were not batting at the start, though they were not long delayed. At which point a pattern quickly emerged, one that almost perfectly repeated that established on the previous day, while also being completely different. The bowler who was useless was good, the marginal, unconvincing snickometer-based review that was not out was now given. Some things were both precisely the same (Australia’s tactics against England’s tail, how the tail reacted to Australia’s tactics) and also, at the same time, completely the opposite (the outcome).
More from Brendon McCullum
[On England’s collapse after lunch] I thought Boland bowled exceptionally well – he hit the deck hard and his paces were up. We were on top of him in the first innings so (it was impressive) the way he came back at a pivotal moment: we were 100 ahead and only one down so that was the time for us to start to try and manoevre the game into our favour.
In the end we nicked a couple of wide ball and chopped on. Some of our high-quality players, our freewheeling cricketers, weren’t able to put pressure back on the opposition. Instead we found ourselves in a bit of a slump. That’s something we’ll have to look at again. But I never want us to go away from our style – putting opposition teams under pressure gives us our best opportunity to win games.
Yes, there are times when we have to throttle down and times when we have to power up. But the basic principle of how we operate as a team is to put pressure on the opposition. And I’ll stress: I thought 200 was a good score until Travis Head played the way he did.
We’ll let the dust settle tonight and then map out a plan (for the next two weeks) and decide whether some guys (get some time in the middle). This has come quickly and we’re disappointed, but we’re strong believers in what we’re doing.
The first innings was as good a fast-bowling performance as I’ve seen in the time I’ve been in the job. We wanted to hit Australia with hostility and pace, and it showed what is possible. We probably didn’t have enough downtime to hit them again with the same hostility in the second innings.
Brendon McCullum talks to TNT Sports
I thought 200 was a good score for us to try to defend. The way Travis Head played was absolutely outstanding; it’s one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen in a pressure situation on a tough wicket. He knocked us off our lengths. We wanted to try to hold length as long as we possibly could but he put us under so much pressure that we couldn’t do it.
I spoke to [Adam Gilchrist] just before the last innings and he said, ‘I think you guys have got 30 too many.’ We might have needed another 230 the way Travis played. If someone delivers a performance like that, you have to tip your cap. Yes, we’ll look at how we can control things better if that confronts us again, but you’ve got to acknowledge how special a knock that was – especially as he was out of position as well. I thought it was a brave call from the Australian captain and coach. Clearly they wanted to make the ball soft as soon as possible. He was superb.
We’ve been trying to insulate against reacting too strongly. We know it’ll hurt – not just us but all the people who fillow this cricket team as well. There will be a lot of chatter. For us it’s about making sure we don’t allow our confidence and our camaraderie to dip too low. We know that at our best we’re a very good cricket team. We’ve now got an extended amount of time off to get ready for Brisbane. We’ve done it before.
“At what point does someone say that it is not acceptable for England to perform like they did today?” asks Gareth Wilson. “At what point does someone say we say it’s ok to lose, you can’t legislate for how someone else plays, by by God you take responsibility for your own game and you suffer consequences when you consistently under perform? At what point does Crawley get dropped? How bad doesn’t have to be?”
I guess that’s a question for bigger cricket brains than mine. My instinct is still that it was the choice of attacking shot rather than the attacking approach per se.
Ali Martin
The news from Perth is that the catalogue of great English calamities in Australia has a brand new entry. For the first time in 104 years an Ashes Test match has been wrapped up inside just two days and England, on the receiving end of an eight-wicket thumping, may already be broken.
Ben Stokes will doubtless push back at that notion, such is his refusal to ever throw in the towel. But as Travis Head cut and carved his way to a breathtaking 69-ball century, vaporising a target of 205 in just 28.2 overs, the psychological blow landed by the hosts felt greater than their 1-0 lead.
England didn’t lose this game because of their approach with the bat; they lost it because of their choice of attacking weapon.
The match turned in the space of six deliveries this afternoon, when Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Joe Root were all out trying to cover drive – a shot fraught with risk in Perth because of the extra bounce, never mind when the ball is also moving off the seam.
“That is a crushing defeat for England in a game where everything went their way,” says Felix Wood. “The Aussies had injuries before and after the match, lost the toss, even dropped some catches. England had their dream attack, got to bowl on it before it flattened out. Huge praise to Starc and Head, great players doing great player things, but really two top performances was all it took and England fell apart.”
The cricket’s done and dusted, so why not feast yourself on all our other live coverage this weekend.
And Travis Head didn’t even make the cut
Steve Smith’s reaction
Good start, wasn’t it? A two-dayer, which you love as a team when you’re on the right side of it. Today was just incredible. That innings from Travis Head was out of this world. He played some outrageous shots – and even when he shanked it he seemed to hit the gap! When you’re on, you’re on. He made the most of it and got us home.
We were thinking of a few options to open – Nathan Lyon was talked about – and didn’t quite like how it went in the first innings. Travis said he wanted to do it and I was like, ‘Mate, go for your life.’
My gosh, I think it’s right up there with knocks I’ve seen from everyone. Fourth innings, albeit day two; he played some nice shots to start and when they went to the short ball he was toying with them.
[On Mitchell Starc] He was unbelievable. Two of the big three out, a lot on his shoulders as leader of the attack. He bowled beautifully. In the first innings we had a terrible cricket ball and the boys were struggling to keep the seam up straihgt; the way he bowled was incredible. All of our bowlers backed it up beautifully today. Scott Boland was exceptional, his lengths were magnificent, and Starcy bowled like a genius.
[On the debutants] Doggy did really well, he got some key wickets and had some good plans. And Jake had a rough start but the way he came out with Trav today was outstanding. It really set us up for the rest of the innings.
[On Pat Cummins] He’s an absolute weapon, the skipper and arguably the best bowler in the world. Of course we want him back. We’ll wait and see.
Ben Stokes’ reaction
Little bit shell-shocked there. That innings from Travis Head was pretty phenomenal. It’s quite raw, quite fresh at the moment. But sheesh, that was some knock.
[On England’s approach] If you look at the way the game played out, the guys who had success with the bat were the ones who were really brave and took the game on. I guess if we were to look back… never think you’ve got enough. If you’re the guy who’s managed to get in, try and give yourself the best chance of going on. But as we saw, anyone who tried to occupy the crease didn’t have much success.
That knock from Travis: yeah, it’s knocked the wind out of us. We tried three or four different plans against him. He was going like a train and when he’s going like that he’s very hard to stop.
The way we bowled yesterday was simply phenomenal. We felt we were in control fo the game when we came out to bowl in the fourth innings, so it’s a tough one to take. But we’ve got four more games to come. Let this sink in, get our heads round it and go from there.
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The player of the match is Mitchell Starc
Aww, Travis Head! To take the game on like that and to come up trumps, that was something to watch, yeah.
It was a helter-skelter two days for both sides. We tried to stick to our guns and do what we do well as a group. You can’t go home not happy with the entertainment across the two days.
I was pretty calm all week. It’s the first time in a while I haven’t had Josh and Pat around, but Scotty’s been here a long time and I’ve known Doggy for a while; he’s fantastic. I’m really pleased I played a role.
More from Travis Head
They’ve got a serious fast bowling attack. I tried to play the sides, to hit down breeze as much as I could, whether that’s giving myself room to carve or pulling when I’m down this end.
[When you saw how the wicket played yesterday, did you imagine you could get a century?] No, no. Shit no. It’s an intimidating place to bat and you can have some sleepless nights with the cracks. It was a pretty good wicket today, being day two, and it’s nice not to have to bat on days four and five.
[On the standing ovation he received from both sets of fans] I’m no good at getting red ink (he was also out just before the end of the 2023 World Cup final after a stunning century). Once I get to that stage I want to get off the field as quick as I possibly can, whether that’s with boundaries or getting out. Yeah, cool moment.
If that’s anything to go by, it’s gonna be a helluva series.
Travis Head’s reaction
[Talk us through the emotions of that…] I don’t think you can, can ya? Nah, good stuff, it’s nice. Jeez, it was a tough two days. They’re a seriously good outfit. Starkie led us and we couldn’t let that 7/50 slip. Yeah, it’s nice to contribute.
[Have you processed what you’ve just done?] Nah, not even close.
[When did you tell the captain you wanted to open?] Two years ago! Nah, I was happy to do it; it doesn’t bother me too much. Look, I’ve floated the idea but it’s nice to be able to play a role today. I thought Weathers played beautifully as well.
[Whose decision was it?] Coach, captain. We threw a few ideas around, the senior players throughout the room. There were two or three options. I was pretty keen to do it. Luckily Smith and Ron let me do it.
I could easily have been out in the first over. Didn’t really matter: I thought that was the right process, the right way of thinking. Go out there and see what happens, and it worked today.
It’s nice to set the tone in the series. I feel sorry for the 60,000 that were due to come here tomorrow! What a start.
They’re got a serious fast bowling attack. I tried to play the sides, to hit down breeze as much as I could, whether that’s giving myself room to carve or pulling when I’m down this end.
The two sets of players shake hands on the field, with the England players all stopping to properly congratulate Travis Head. You can’t even hate the bloke, he’s utterly adorable. It’s not like they’ve been beaten by some grizzled old bugger who deals in remorseless hundreds and four-letter words, just an exceptionally likeable, everyday bloke with the unique ability to decide the games that matter most.
AUSTRALIA WIN BY EIGHT WICKETS!
28.1 overs: Australia 204-2 (Labuschagne 51, Smith 2) Welcome to Mastermind. Your first Mastermind question is: who scored the winning runs when Australia were victorious in the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921?
Steve Smith, of course, with a single off Brydon Carse. It’s hard to know what to say, because we’ve never seen anything like that before. Three hours ago England were well on course for a 1-0 victory, or so it seemed. And then, and then. Well, books will be written about what happened next.
28th over: Australia 204-2 (Labuschagne 51, Smith 1) Joe Root comes on and is pumped through mid-off for four by Labuschagne. This is savage.
Labuschagne, who 24 hours ago was hanging on for dear life, clubs six over wide long-on to reach a 49-ball fifty. The scores are level; the morale is not.
“Jesus,” says Robert Wilson. “This is a caning…”
27th over: Australia 192-2 (Labuschagne 40, Smith 0) Travis Head averages 42 in Test cricket. He is also one of the greatest matchwinners ever to play the game.
WICKET! Australia 192-2 (Head c Pope b Carse 123)
Carse replaces whoever was bowling before him. Head launches him over square leg for four, pulls him savagely through midwicket for four – and then holes out to deep midwicket to end an innings of unique brilliance: 123 from 83 balls in an otherwise extremely low-scoring match. And it was the first Test, the one that sets the tone for the next seven weeks.
It’s the first matchwinning hundred in the fourth innings of an opening Ashes Test. Ben Stokes and a few England players run across to congratultae him as he makes his way off to a standing ovation.
Hey, have you heard this great new pop song?
26th over: Australia 182-1 (Head 113, Labuschagne 40) Labuschagne hits a four, don’t ask me where. Head scorches Atkinson down the ground for another, steers a third over backward point. That brings up the hundred partnership is about seven minutes.
A horrible over from Atkinson includes two wides as he tries to hide the ball from Head. Labuschagne slugs four more to make it 20 from the over.
Australia have scored 154 in the last 19 overs.
25th over: Australia 162-1 (Head 104, Labuschagne 31) One of these decades, we’ll realise the Australian team of 2017-26 were one of the all-time greats. They’ve been world champions in every format, wiped the floor with most opposition and, best of all, overcoming industrial quantities of adversity in many of their most famous victories. Now, as Will Vignoles wrote earlier, they have their equivalent to Adelaide 2006.
“Having missed the whole day yesterday, I did my usual compensating bottom-up read, suspending disbelief and time itself, pretending I didn’t know a clatter of wickets had fallen and that Stokes had burgled a fivefer,” writes Robert Wilson. “It’s an act of anti-imagination in its way, self-hypnosis or incantation, and it’s amazing how well it works. Very occasionally, it’s nearly better than watching.
“It is a strangely time-travelling form, the OBO. Like a ship’s log. You guys are superbly present tense. Impeccably immediate, responsive and alert. The form is filled the sense that the future hasn’t happened yet – even nine or ten hours later after it was written. This shit is the NOW!
“What’s remarkable is how few hostages to fortune you old OBO lags give. In the rolling urgency of the arrival of the now, there is very little immediately contradicted opining – not much Starc is past it, Stokes is a busted flush and Travis Head is a fat git. That’s pretty astonishing. It’s almost like you guys like the future. Or cricket, or something.
“Noice. Keep it coming.”
Keep it coming? After this? Do you want some?
24th over: Australia 160-1 (Head 103, Labuschagne 30) Head backs away to Atkinson, tries a tennis slam with both feet off the ground and top-edges the ball to safety on the leg side. No idea how that didn’t go to hand, though it wouldn’t really matter if it did. An England bowler could take a double hat-trick and the game would still be touch and go.
Play has been extended by an extra half an hour, so this will be the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921. That game had a rest day in the middle. England could do with a rest year to get over this.
“Let’s take the positives, Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “At least the England players, and indeed us OBOers, will be able to go over there and do whatever it was we were going to do for the weekend now.”
I wasn’t aware I’d made plans to spend the entire weekend weeping like a bairn, because that’s what I’ll be doing now.
23rd over: Australia 154-1 (Head 101, Labuschagne 26) Head’s epiphany predates Bazball – remember his 148-ball 152 at the Gabba in 2021-22 – and this innings could put Bazball six feet under. I’m not sure how you come back from this. I know Australia did a year ago after being slaughtered by India, but they were on home soil and had plenty of credit in the bank.
Even Labuschagne is rubbing England’s nose in the filth; he backs away to flat-bat Archer through extra cover for four. The pitch looks so benign now. Maybe it’s a trick of the light. Maybe…
“I’m at the match, seeing the pitch up close,” says George Thomson. “Head has been brilliant but the pitch is now a pancake. That is why Atkinson and Carse could do what they did. It turned quite quickly. England’s fantastic bowling yesterday covered up a fantastically bad first batting innings, and the second matched it. They needed Australia chasing 350+. Sadly we will see a whitewash from here; Bazball doesn’t produce draws!”
Travis Head makes an amazing 69-ball hundred!
22nd over: Australia 147-1 (Head 100, Labuschagne 20) Head wallops Atkinson for four to move to 99. A single behind square on the off side takes him an astonishing, high-speed hundred: 69 balls, 12 fours, four sixes. It’s the joint third fastest for Australia in a Test; only Adam Gilchrist, at the Waca in 2006-07, has scored a faster Ashes hundred.
As an England fan this hurts like hell. But if you don’t love everything about Travis Head – his courage, skill, audacity, selflessness, attitude to life and sport, even that jaunty moustache – you need to seek urgent medical assistance. The phrase is execrable, but by god he is living life to the max.
21st over: Australia 136-1 (Head 93, Labuschagne 19) Never, ever have I ever felt do low has there been a matchwinning fourth-innings century in the opening Test of an Ashes series. But then there have been very few cricketers with the matchwinning range of this moustache-wearing freak.
“You’re so right about the majestic Travis Head,” writes Rob Lewis. “But still, after 60 years following England (dissolves in tears).”
Funny you should say that, Rob, because I just found this exclusive clip of every England cricket supporter in the whole wide world.
20th over: Australia 136-1 (Head 92, Labuschagne 18) This isn’t a Test match, it’s a T10 game. Head carves and flick-pulls successive boundaries off Atkinson, and by the end of the over he has 92 from 63 balls. That includes 41 from his last 19 deliveries; it’s the batting equivalent of Mitchell Johnson’s spell at the Gabba in 2013-14.
“Hi Rob,” says Angus Chisholm. “Another Ashes series, another gradual but inexorable fatalistic meltdown in the guardian OBO. We are, as they say, so back.”
19th over: Australia 127-1 (Head 84, Labuschagne 17) Archer returns, almost certainly too late. Labuschagne uppercuts for four; Head tries a similar stroke and is beaten. No matter: he pulls the next ball for four, slugs the one after that over mid-on for six. Even by Head’s standards, the chutzpah of this innings is quite something; he’s 84 not out from 59 balls.
The last two-day Ashes Test, since you asked, was in 1921. And I was there!
18th over: Australia 111-1 (Head 73, Labuschagne 12) After being in such a strong position, any defeat would have been devastating for England. But this… this is resounding, shattering. If England come back fom this to regain the Ashes, a salut.
Ah, sod England, let’s just celebrate the wonder of Travis Head. He waves Atkinson sweetly between extra cover and mid-off for four to move into the seventies, 73 not out from 55 balls to be precise.
When you’re a kid and you daydream about playing sport for your country, what do you want to achieve? More than anything – even an average of 60 with the bat – you want to entertain, to win the biggest matches for your country and your mates; to have fun and enjoy a psychological freedom that most people never feel. Travis Head is everything a sportsman or woman should be.
17th over: Australia 106-1 (Head 68, Labuschagne 12) England had managed to slow the scoring. Head pummels Stokes for three successive boundaries – cover drive, pull, drive through mid-off – to bring up the Australia hundred. For good measure he pulls another two balls later. Seventeen from the over.
With the obvious exception of Headingley 1948 and Joe Darling’s awesome 160 at Sydney in 1898, I can’t think of many better performances by an Australia batter in the fourth innings of Ashes Test.
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Time to wrap things up on the second and final day of the first Test. The second and final day.
Thanks for your company and emails on both days of a mind-blowing Test match. Goodbye!
Simon Burnton
It is the UK that is living through a cold snap, but in balmy Perth they were playing in a snow globe. The scenery was static, solid, but everything else was constantly getting shaken up, bits flying in unpredictable directions. The crowd roared, commentators gibbered, the glitter never settled.
Unlike the first day England were not batting at the start, though they were not long delayed. At which point a pattern quickly emerged, one that almost perfectly repeated that established on the previous day, while also being completely different. The bowler who was useless was good, the marginal, unconvincing snickometer-based review that was not out was now given. Some things were both precisely the same (Australia’s tactics against England’s tail, how the tail reacted to Australia’s tactics) and also, at the same time, completely the opposite (the outcome).
More from Brendon McCullum
[On England’s collapse after lunch] I thought Boland bowled exceptionally well – he hit the deck hard and his paces were up. We were on top of him in the first innings so (it was impressive) the way he came back at a pivotal moment: we were 100 ahead and only one down so that was the time for us to start to try and manoevre the game into our favour.
In the end we nicked a couple of wide ball and chopped on. Some of our high-quality players, our freewheeling cricketers, weren’t able to put pressure back on the opposition. Instead we found ourselves in a bit of a slump. That’s something we’ll have to look at again. But I never want us to go away from our style – putting opposition teams under pressure gives us our best opportunity to win games.
Yes, there are times when we have to throttle down and times when we have to power up. But the basic principle of how we operate as a team is to put pressure on the opposition. And I’ll stress: I thought 200 was a good score until Travis Head played the way he did.
We’ll let the dust settle tonight and then map out a plan (for the next two weeks) and decide whether some guys (get some time in the middle). This has come quickly and we’re disappointed, but we’re strong believers in what we’re doing.
The first innings was as good a fast-bowling performance as I’ve seen in the time I’ve been in the job. We wanted to hit Australia with hostility and pace, and it showed what is possible. We probably didn’t have enough downtime to hit them again with the same hostility in the second innings.
Brendon McCullum talks to TNT Sports
I thought 200 was a good score for us to try to defend. The way Travis Head played was absolutely outstanding; it’s one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen in a pressure situation on a tough wicket. He knocked us off our lengths. We wanted to try to hold length as long as we possibly could but he put us under so much pressure that we couldn’t do it.
I spoke to [Adam Gilchrist] just before the last innings and he said, ‘I think you guys have got 30 too many.’ We might have needed another 230 the way Travis played. If someone delivers a performance like that, you have to tip your cap. Yes, we’ll look at how we can control things better if that confronts us again, but you’ve got to acknowledge how special a knock that was – especially as he was out of position as well. I thought it was a brave call from the Australian captain and coach. Clearly they wanted to make the ball soft as soon as possible. He was superb.
We’ve been trying to insulate against reacting too strongly. We know it’ll hurt – not just us but all the people who fillow this cricket team as well. There will be a lot of chatter. For us it’s about making sure we don’t allow our confidence and our camaraderie to dip too low. We know that at our best we’re a very good cricket team. We’ve now got an extended amount of time off to get ready for Brisbane. We’ve done it before.
“At what point does someone say that it is not acceptable for England to perform like they did today?” asks Gareth Wilson. “At what point does someone say we say it’s ok to lose, you can’t legislate for how someone else plays, by by God you take responsibility for your own game and you suffer consequences when you consistently under perform? At what point does Crawley get dropped? How bad doesn’t have to be?”
I guess that’s a question for bigger cricket brains than mine. My instinct is still that it was the choice of attacking shot rather than the attacking approach per se.
Ali Martin
The news from Perth is that the catalogue of great English calamities in Australia has a brand new entry. For the first time in 104 years an Ashes Test match has been wrapped up inside just two days and England, on the receiving end of an eight-wicket thumping, may already be broken.
Ben Stokes will doubtless push back at that notion, such is his refusal to ever throw in the towel. But as Travis Head cut and carved his way to a breathtaking 69-ball century, vaporising a target of 205 in just 28.2 overs, the psychological blow landed by the hosts felt greater than their 1-0 lead.
England didn’t lose this game because of their approach with the bat; they lost it because of their choice of attacking weapon.
The match turned in the space of six deliveries this afternoon, when Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Joe Root were all out trying to cover drive – a shot fraught with risk in Perth because of the extra bounce, never mind when the ball is also moving off the seam.
“That is a crushing defeat for England in a game where everything went their way,” says Felix Wood. “The Aussies had injuries before and after the match, lost the toss, even dropped some catches. England had their dream attack, got to bowl on it before it flattened out. Huge praise to Starc and Head, great players doing great player things, but really two top performances was all it took and England fell apart.”
The cricket’s done and dusted, so why not feast yourself on all our other live coverage this weekend.
And Travis Head didn’t even make the cut
Steve Smith’s reaction
Good start, wasn’t it? A two-dayer, which you love as a team when you’re on the right side of it. Today was just incredible. That innings from Travis Head was out of this world. He played some outrageous shots – and even when he shanked it he seemed to hit the gap! When you’re on, you’re on. He made the most of it and got us home.
We were thinking of a few options to open – Nathan Lyon was talked about – and didn’t quite like how it went in the first innings. Travis said he wanted to do it and I was like, ‘Mate, go for your life.’
My gosh, I think it’s right up there with knocks I’ve seen from everyone. Fourth innings, albeit day two; he played some nice shots to start and when they went to the short ball he was toying with them.
[On Mitchell Starc] He was unbelievable. Two of the big three out, a lot on his shoulders as leader of the attack. He bowled beautifully. In the first innings we had a terrible cricket ball and the boys were struggling to keep the seam up straihgt; the way he bowled was incredible. All of our bowlers backed it up beautifully today. Scott Boland was exceptional, his lengths were magnificent, and Starcy bowled like a genius.
[On the debutants] Doggy did really well, he got some key wickets and had some good plans. And Jake had a rough start but the way he came out with Trav today was outstanding. It really set us up for the rest of the innings.
[On Pat Cummins] He’s an absolute weapon, the skipper and arguably the best bowler in the world. Of course we want him back. We’ll wait and see.
Ben Stokes’ reaction
Little bit shell-shocked there. That innings from Travis Head was pretty phenomenal. It’s quite raw, quite fresh at the moment. But sheesh, that was some knock.
[On England’s approach] If you look at the way the game played out, the guys who had success with the bat were the ones who were really brave and took the game on. I guess if we were to look back… never think you’ve got enough. If you’re the guy who’s managed to get in, try and give yourself the best chance of going on. But as we saw, anyone who tried to occupy the crease didn’t have much success.
That knock from Travis: yeah, it’s knocked the wind out of us. We tried three or four different plans against him. He was going like a train and when he’s going like that he’s very hard to stop.
The way we bowled yesterday was simply phenomenal. We felt we were in control fo the game when we came out to bowl in the fourth innings, so it’s a tough one to take. But we’ve got four more games to come. Let this sink in, get our heads round it and go from there.
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The player of the match is Mitchell Starc
Aww, Travis Head! To take the game on like that and to come up trumps, that was something to watch, yeah.
It was a helter-skelter two days for both sides. We tried to stick to our guns and do what we do well as a group. You can’t go home not happy with the entertainment across the two days.
I was pretty calm all week. It’s the first time in a while I haven’t had Josh and Pat around, but Scotty’s been here a long time and I’ve known Doggy for a while; he’s fantastic. I’m really pleased I played a role.
More from Travis Head
They’ve got a serious fast bowling attack. I tried to play the sides, to hit down breeze as much as I could, whether that’s giving myself room to carve or pulling when I’m down this end.
[When you saw how the wicket played yesterday, did you imagine you could get a century?] No, no. Shit no. It’s an intimidating place to bat and you can have some sleepless nights with the cracks. It was a pretty good wicket today, being day two, and it’s nice not to have to bat on days four and five.
[On the standing ovation he received from both sets of fans] I’m no good at getting red ink (he was also out just before the end of the 2023 World Cup final after a stunning century). Once I get to that stage I want to get off the field as quick as I possibly can, whether that’s with boundaries or getting out. Yeah, cool moment.
If that’s anything to go by, it’s gonna be a helluva series.
Travis Head’s reaction
[Talk us through the emotions of that…] I don’t think you can, can ya? Nah, good stuff, it’s nice. Jeez, it was a tough two days. They’re a seriously good outfit. Starkie led us and we couldn’t let that 7/50 slip. Yeah, it’s nice to contribute.
[Have you processed what you’ve just done?] Nah, not even close.
[When did you tell the captain you wanted to open?] Two years ago! Nah, I was happy to do it; it doesn’t bother me too much. Look, I’ve floated the idea but it’s nice to be able to play a role today. I thought Weathers played beautifully as well.
[Whose decision was it?] Coach, captain. We threw a few ideas around, the senior players throughout the room. There were two or three options. I was pretty keen to do it. Luckily Smith and Ron let me do it.
I could easily have been out in the first over. Didn’t really matter: I thought that was the right process, the right way of thinking. Go out there and see what happens, and it worked today.
It’s nice to set the tone in the series. I feel sorry for the 60,000 that were due to come here tomorrow! What a start.
They’re got a serious fast bowling attack. I tried to play the sides, to hit down breeze as much as I could, whether that’s giving myself room to carve or pulling when I’m down this end.
The two sets of players shake hands on the field, with the England players all stopping to properly congratulate Travis Head. You can’t even hate the bloke, he’s utterly adorable. It’s not like they’ve been beaten by some grizzled old bugger who deals in remorseless hundreds and four-letter words, just an exceptionally likeable, everyday bloke with the unique ability to decide the games that matter most.
AUSTRALIA WIN BY EIGHT WICKETS!
28.1 overs: Australia 204-2 (Labuschagne 51, Smith 2) Welcome to Mastermind. Your first Mastermind question is: who scored the winning runs when Australia were victorious in the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921?
Steve Smith, of course, with a single off Brydon Carse. It’s hard to know what to say, because we’ve never seen anything like that before. Three hours ago England were well on course for a 1-0 victory, or so it seemed. And then, and then. Well, books will be written about what happened next.
28th over: Australia 204-2 (Labuschagne 51, Smith 1) Joe Root comes on and is pumped through mid-off for four by Labuschagne. This is savage.
Labuschagne, who 24 hours ago was hanging on for dear life, clubs six over wide long-on to reach a 49-ball fifty. The scores are level; the morale is not.
“Jesus,” says Robert Wilson. “This is a caning…”
27th over: Australia 192-2 (Labuschagne 40, Smith 0) Travis Head averages 42 in Test cricket. He is also one of the greatest matchwinners ever to play the game.
WICKET! Australia 192-2 (Head c Pope b Carse 123)
Carse replaces whoever was bowling before him. Head launches him over square leg for four, pulls him savagely through midwicket for four – and then holes out to deep midwicket to end an innings of unique brilliance: 123 from 83 balls in an otherwise extremely low-scoring match. And it was the first Test, the one that sets the tone for the next seven weeks.
It’s the first matchwinning hundred in the fourth innings of an opening Ashes Test. Ben Stokes and a few England players run across to congratultae him as he makes his way off to a standing ovation.
Hey, have you heard this great new pop song?
26th over: Australia 182-1 (Head 113, Labuschagne 40) Labuschagne hits a four, don’t ask me where. Head scorches Atkinson down the ground for another, steers a third over backward point. That brings up the hundred partnership is about seven minutes.
A horrible over from Atkinson includes two wides as he tries to hide the ball from Head. Labuschagne slugs four more to make it 20 from the over.
Australia have scored 154 in the last 19 overs.
25th over: Australia 162-1 (Head 104, Labuschagne 31) One of these decades, we’ll realise the Australian team of 2017-26 were one of the all-time greats. They’ve been world champions in every format, wiped the floor with most opposition and, best of all, overcoming industrial quantities of adversity in many of their most famous victories. Now, as Will Vignoles wrote earlier, they have their equivalent to Adelaide 2006.
“Having missed the whole day yesterday, I did my usual compensating bottom-up read, suspending disbelief and time itself, pretending I didn’t know a clatter of wickets had fallen and that Stokes had burgled a fivefer,” writes Robert Wilson. “It’s an act of anti-imagination in its way, self-hypnosis or incantation, and it’s amazing how well it works. Very occasionally, it’s nearly better than watching.
“It is a strangely time-travelling form, the OBO. Like a ship’s log. You guys are superbly present tense. Impeccably immediate, responsive and alert. The form is filled the sense that the future hasn’t happened yet – even nine or ten hours later after it was written. This shit is the NOW!
“What’s remarkable is how few hostages to fortune you old OBO lags give. In the rolling urgency of the arrival of the now, there is very little immediately contradicted opining – not much Starc is past it, Stokes is a busted flush and Travis Head is a fat git. That’s pretty astonishing. It’s almost like you guys like the future. Or cricket, or something.
“Noice. Keep it coming.”
Keep it coming? After this? Do you want some?
24th over: Australia 160-1 (Head 103, Labuschagne 30) Head backs away to Atkinson, tries a tennis slam with both feet off the ground and top-edges the ball to safety on the leg side. No idea how that didn’t go to hand, though it wouldn’t really matter if it did. An England bowler could take a double hat-trick and the game would still be touch and go.
Play has been extended by an extra half an hour, so this will be the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921. That game had a rest day in the middle. England could do with a rest year to get over this.
“Let’s take the positives, Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “At least the England players, and indeed us OBOers, will be able to go over there and do whatever it was we were going to do for the weekend now.”
I wasn’t aware I’d made plans to spend the entire weekend weeping like a bairn, because that’s what I’ll be doing now.
23rd over: Australia 154-1 (Head 101, Labuschagne 26) Head’s epiphany predates Bazball – remember his 148-ball 152 at the Gabba in 2021-22 – and this innings could put Bazball six feet under. I’m not sure how you come back from this. I know Australia did a year ago after being slaughtered by India, but they were on home soil and had plenty of credit in the bank.
Even Labuschagne is rubbing England’s nose in the filth; he backs away to flat-bat Archer through extra cover for four. The pitch looks so benign now. Maybe it’s a trick of the light. Maybe…
“I’m at the match, seeing the pitch up close,” says George Thomson. “Head has been brilliant but the pitch is now a pancake. That is why Atkinson and Carse could do what they did. It turned quite quickly. England’s fantastic bowling yesterday covered up a fantastically bad first batting innings, and the second matched it. They needed Australia chasing 350+. Sadly we will see a whitewash from here; Bazball doesn’t produce draws!”
Travis Head makes an amazing 69-ball hundred!
22nd over: Australia 147-1 (Head 100, Labuschagne 20) Head wallops Atkinson for four to move to 99. A single behind square on the off side takes him an astonishing, high-speed hundred: 69 balls, 12 fours, four sixes. It’s the joint third fastest for Australia in a Test; only Adam Gilchrist, at the Waca in 2006-07, has scored a faster Ashes hundred.
As an England fan this hurts like hell. But if you don’t love everything about Travis Head – his courage, skill, audacity, selflessness, attitude to life and sport, even that jaunty moustache – you need to seek urgent medical assistance. The phrase is execrable, but by god he is living life to the max.
21st over: Australia 136-1 (Head 93, Labuschagne 19) Never, ever have I ever felt do low has there been a matchwinning fourth-innings century in the opening Test of an Ashes series. But then there have been very few cricketers with the matchwinning range of this moustache-wearing freak.
“You’re so right about the majestic Travis Head,” writes Rob Lewis. “But still, after 60 years following England (dissolves in tears).”
Funny you should say that, Rob, because I just found this exclusive clip of every England cricket supporter in the whole wide world.
20th over: Australia 136-1 (Head 92, Labuschagne 18) This isn’t a Test match, it’s a T10 game. Head carves and flick-pulls successive boundaries off Atkinson, and by the end of the over he has 92 from 63 balls. That includes 41 from his last 19 deliveries; it’s the batting equivalent of Mitchell Johnson’s spell at the Gabba in 2013-14.
“Hi Rob,” says Angus Chisholm. “Another Ashes series, another gradual but inexorable fatalistic meltdown in the guardian OBO. We are, as they say, so back.”
19th over: Australia 127-1 (Head 84, Labuschagne 17) Archer returns, almost certainly too late. Labuschagne uppercuts for four; Head tries a similar stroke and is beaten. No matter: he pulls the next ball for four, slugs the one after that over mid-on for six. Even by Head’s standards, the chutzpah of this innings is quite something; he’s 84 not out from 59 balls.
The last two-day Ashes Test, since you asked, was in 1921. And I was there!
18th over: Australia 111-1 (Head 73, Labuschagne 12) After being in such a strong position, any defeat would have been devastating for England. But this… this is resounding, shattering. If England come back fom this to regain the Ashes, a salut.
Ah, sod England, let’s just celebrate the wonder of Travis Head. He waves Atkinson sweetly between extra cover and mid-off for four to move into the seventies, 73 not out from 55 balls to be precise.
When you’re a kid and you daydream about playing sport for your country, what do you want to achieve? More than anything – even an average of 60 with the bat – you want to entertain, to win the biggest matches for your country and your mates; to have fun and enjoy a psychological freedom that most people never feel. Travis Head is everything a sportsman or woman should be.
17th over: Australia 106-1 (Head 68, Labuschagne 12) England had managed to slow the scoring. Head pummels Stokes for three successive boundaries – cover drive, pull, drive through mid-off – to bring up the Australia hundred. For good measure he pulls another two balls later. Seventeen from the over.
With the obvious exception of Headingley 1948 and Joe Darling’s awesome 160 at Sydney in 1898, I can’t think of many better performances by an Australia batter in the fourth innings of Ashes Test.
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