AUS vs ENG 2nd Test: Inglis, Neser Come In For Khawaja And Lyon As England Opt To Bat First In Pink-Ball Test | Playing 11s

Ashes 2025, Australia vs England 2nd Test: England won the toss and opted to bat first in the second Test against Australia in the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 at The Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday. The pink-ball day-night Test is scheduled to be played from December 4 to 8. Steve Smith is captaining Australia again as Pat Cummins continues to remain on the sidelines.

With an aim to produce an improved effort in the challenging pink-ball Test, England made an interesting change in their lineup as they brought in Will Jacks to replace star pacer Mark Wood, who missed out due to an injury issue. Despite his poor batting form lately, Zak Crawley retained his place in the side. England headed into the Brisbane Test on the back of a disappointing result in the first Test. They lost in Perth inside two days in the low-scoring contest, which led to a massive criticism.

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"We are gonna have a bat. Different conditions here. You give yourself the best chance when you bat. We've had extra time to build up for this game. The guys are raring and ready to go. I'm not too sure how the wicket is going to play to be honest. Lot of people look at the wickets and say it's going to this, it's going to do that, but you never really know till you get out there. We have an opportunity to put some runs on the board first up," England skipper Ben Stokes said at the toss.

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On the other hand, Australia will be looking to continue their magnificent form in the day-night Tests at home. They also made a couple of changes as Josh Inglis and Michael Neser came in for Usman Khawaja and Nathan Lyon. The stand-in skipper Steve Smith confirmed that Inglis will bat in the middle-order, whereas Travis Head will continue to open with Jake Weatherald.

"With the pink ball, it's going to offer quite a bit, particularly later on under lights. No daylight savings here and you play in the night a lot and we feel that's going to give us the best opportunity to take 20 wickets. We've done well in the past, it's a new game. It's going to be a great atmosphere," Smith said at the toss.

Australia vs England 2nd Test Playing XIs, Ashes 2025:

Australia (Playing XI): Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith(c), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey(w), Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett

England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer