England look beat as they see series slowly get out of their grasp punctuated by another sloppy, error-strewn day by the tourists.
Brydon Carse trudged off the Gabba turf utterly spent — sweat soaking his shirt, tape wrapped around his left hand, and grass streaked across his whites from a desperate failed dive at the boundary. His physical state summed up England’s wider predicament: despite wholehearted commitment, the series is already drifting alarmingly out of their control.
Defeat in Brisbane is simply not an option for England. That may sound dramatic with the match still in progress, but history underlines the danger — only once, back in 1936–37, has a side overturned a 0–2 deficit to reclaim the Ashes. England have already squandered two prime chances against an Australian team missing two of its three premier fast bowlers. They handed away the opening Test and now find themselves staring at a sizable hole in the second as well.
England remain faintly in touch only because of Australia’s chaotic half-hour under the lights, but there is no disguising how punishing the rest of the day was for them. The bowlers were taken for more than five an over, five chances went down in the field, and their irritation was plain to see. No one embodied the struggle more than Brydon Carse, whose final return of 3 for 113 from 17 overs oddly marked an improvement after an opening spell that quickly spiralled out of control.
On commentary duty for Fox, Mark Waugh was scathing about Carse’s early accuracy, branding his first-spell pitch map as barely up to junior level — before joking that even that description may have been too kind. Carse appeared locked into the wrong plan altogether, repeatedly offering Jake Weatherald and Travis Head either width or overpitched balls on the stumps, both of which were punished. The result was a costly 45 runs conceded from his opening five overs alone.
As daylight faded, Carse’s battle with himself was plain to see. Stationed at mid-on, he berated his own mistakes while Ben Stokes prepared for the next over — an over that summed up Carse’s uneven rhythm. One delivery reared up sharply and thudded into Steven Smith’s right elbow, a moment of genuine threat. But it was immediately followed by a loose, overpitched ball sent skimming past backward point, prompting a furious scuff at the turf. Two balls later, his follow-through collapsed beneath him as he slipped and crashed to the ground.
What followed did little to settle him. His next spell amounted to just one costly over. Charging to the crease, he banged one in short at around 135kph, only to see Cameron Green shift back and swat it, awkwardly but effectively, over mid-off for four. Green then carved another boundary, Smith miscued a hook that still sailed for six, and a floating bumper drifted beyond reach and was called wide — a rapid sequence that underlined how quickly the moment unraveled.
By that stage, the damage had become severe: after 12 overs, Carse’s return of 1 for 95 briefly stood as the costliest spell ever recorded by an England bowler in a Test. What followed was an over that veered between chaos and drama — another ballooned wide, a disguised yorker that finally knocked over Green, a spilled chance at gully as Ben Duckett flung himself full length, and then a spectacular diving catch by Will Jacks at long leg to remove Smith.
Carse sprinted toward Jacks in celebration, momentarily believing both his own fortunes and England’s miserable day had turned for the better. That illusion didn’t last. Amid further missed chances — including a tough opportunity that went begging for Joe Root — Carse himself dropped the simplest chance of all at cover, letting Michael Neser escape and tearing the webbing on his left hand in the process.
England’s difficulties were not limited to Carse alone. Ben Stokes was taken for more than five an over and was visibly hampered by cramp, Jofra Archer saw two chances dropped off his bowling, and Will Jacks endured a costly solitary over that went for 13, including four wayward byes down the leg side. Gus Atkinson remains without a wicket after 39 overs in the series, while Mark Wood is battling on with his left knee strapped in support.
Ever since dismissing Australia for 132 in Perth — a near-perfect outcome for a pace attack that is quick but increasingly brittle — England have bled runs at an alarming rate, conceding 583 for 8 across 101.2 overs with little sign of authority. Stokes, as captain, cannot escape scrutiny either: for long stretches of the second day in Brisbane, England’s tactical direction in the search for wickets was difficult to discern.
“Clearly we didn’t get it right to start with,” Root said, doing his best to cling to the positives, “but the way we responded, especially towards the back end of the day [was great]…The wheels could have come off and at other times – probably on a tour where I was captain, they would have.
“We know that [when we play] our best cricket and when we execute well, we’re a very difficult side to play against. It’s about turning up with the right manner tomorrow… I don’t think we’re massively out of the game at all. I think we’re actually not too far behind, as long as we get things right early tomorrow.”
Joe Root is justified in insisting that the contest is not beyond reach. England may still rip through Australia’s tail early on the third morning, and they are set to have the final say with the ball on a surface that is already beginning to misbehave. Still, Carse’s weary walk back to the pavilion served as a stark warning: one more day riddled with mistakes and loose execution could push England past the point of recovery.