The Ashes 2025/26 | Australia vs England | Second Test Preview and Predictions

After an incredible start to the Ashes 2025/26 series which saw hosts Australia stomp England in Perth, the action moves to Brisbane for the second Test, which will also be a Day/Night Test. Australia have an incredible record in pink-ball games as since the first-ever pink-ball game back in 2015, Australia have never lost a day/night Test match.

England come into this game with their backs up against the wall after being outclassed in the opening game and need a big turnaround if they want to keep their Ashes hopes alive. 

For the second Test of the 2025/26 Ashes series, here we present our preview and predictions.

The Ashes 2025/26 | 2nd Test | 09:30 IST, December 04-08, 2025

Australia have announced an unchanged squad for the second Test as well, which means that Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will continue to miss out. The hosts, though, have no reason to worry as they showed that they have more in their arsenal to dominate despite missing their two front-line bowlers. Without Cummins and Hazlewood, it was Australia’s star seamer Mitchell Starc stepping up and he made sure the hosts didn’t feel the absence of their captain. A 10-wicket haul from the veteran star pacer made sure that despite a disappointing first-innings with the bat, Australia remained in the game. Starc was well-supported by Scott Boland and the debutant Brendan Doggett with all 20 wickets taken by the Australian bowling attack being from the pacers. The seam attack will once again be key in Brisbane and Starc who is a master with the pink-ball will once again need to lead from the front.

Australia’s only concern would be their batting unit, they had a shocking performance in the first innings, being bundled out for 132 and despite a whirlwind 123 from Travis Head which took England out from the game, their middle order will be looking to spend some time out in the middle and get some runs on the board. Another debutant, Jake Weatherald finally got some runs and spent some time in the middle in the second innings but he seemed uneasy against the pace of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. Marnus Labuschange got a much needed 51* in the second innings, which was not only needed for Australia but personally himself as well after a prolonged period of low scores but the batting order below is yet to get going. Usman Khawaja’s fitness will be a key issue given the 38-year old did not come to open the innings during the chase after a back spasm and after being included in the squad for the second innings, it remains to be seen if he will make the XI or not and if he does, whether Australia would continue with Khawaja at the top of push Head to open after his blitzkrieg innings. 

Barring Ollie Pope’s 46 and Harry Brook’s 52, England’s batting unit had nothing to show for in Perth and the signs don’t look better for the English squad either. Moving into the pink-ball Test, the majority of the English squad has never played a pink-ball Test and the English team surprisingly opted out to play in the tour game ahead of the second Test, which was also a pink-ball match. England had the game in their hand after Australia’s first innings, bundling out their opponents despite a disappointing first innings score of their own but another poor show with the bat and the Travis Head show saw England get blown away from a winning position. The positives for England is their bowling with Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and Ben Stokes all having strong outing with the ball, mostly in the first innings. Archer, Carse and Atkinson though have not played a Day/Night Test yet so they come in without much experience behind them. With not much pink ball experience in their squad other than the top order, England will have a tall task ahead of them.

The Brisbane pitch will once again be assistive to seamers and with the pink ball, the quicks will be looking forward to get going. The batters, though, should have a better outing after a nightmare in Perth with Australia starting as favourites once again. England’s gung ho approach, it’s the extremes that work for them and coming into a pink ball game with close to no experience for their bowlers, it looks like it will be another tough outing for the visitors.

Fantasy XI: Ben Duckett, Travis Head, Steve Smith (c), Joe Root, Harry Brooks, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Ben Stokes, Mitchell Starc (vc), Jofra Archer, Scott Boland

Venue: Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane

Winners Prediction: Australia