On Tuesday, December 2, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the playing XI of the England National Cricket Team for the second match of the Ashes 2025-26.
The England National Cricket Team and the Australia National Cricket Team will lock horns with each other in the second Test match of the five-match Ashes Test series at The Gabba in Brisbane from Thursday, December 4.
Will Jacks replaces injured Mark Wood
The England team management has decided to retain the core for the second match of the high-profile series despite suffering a humiliating loss in the first Test at the Perth Stadium.
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They have made just one change to the playing XI for the Gabba Test as the spinning all-rounder Will Jacks has been brought into the side in place of the injured Mark Wood.
Will Jacks has already played a couple of Test matches for his country and has scored 89 while picking up 6 wickets.
Talking about the rest of the side, Zak Crawley will continue to open the innings with Ben Duckett, while Ollie Pope and Joe Root will be coming out to bat at No.3 and No.4.
Vice-captain Harry Brook takes the No.5 spot in the playing XI and is followed by skipper Ben Stokes, wicketkeeper-batsman Jamie Smith, and allrounder Will Jacks in the batting order.
Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, and Jofra Archer have been chosen as the three frontline pacers for the match against the Australia National Cricket Team.
England Playing XI For Gabba Test vs Australia:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
Also Read: Sunil Gavaskar accuses ICC of bias against sub-continent pitches
Everyone knows what a brilliant cricketer he is – Ollie Pope
England’s former vice-captain Ollie Pope showered rich praise on Will Jacks, calling him a brilliant cricketer and saying that his game has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years
“Everyone knows what a brilliant cricketer he is,” said Jacks’ Surrey teammate Ollie Pope, as quoted by the BBC. “The way he’s grown over the last few years, we’ve seen his white-ball game really go forward. It’s a great opportunity for his red-ball, too.
“He’s obviously got that style of spin bowling where he can get some bounce and turn off the pitch, then everyone has seen the skills he’s got in the white-ball format. He can take on a really good attack.”
Ollie Pope also said that they are not paying too much attention to Australia’s stunning record in pink-ball Tests. He said:
“We know they have a good record here but at the same time they certainly haven’t been unbeatable here, as we’ve seen. We’ll use the crowd, we know the pitch conditions and we’ve played a few pink-ball games, too.
“It’s just trying not to think too much about the history of it in terms of this venue and this ground, and making sure we put our skills forward.”
Meanwhile, the England skipper Ben Stokes stated that Australia play a lot of pink-ball Tests and they will look into the tactical elements of it. He said:
“Talking about the tactical element of a day-night game, you do try to look at Australia. They play a lot of day-night cricket here, how they use their spinner as an attacking option, or more to give the bowlers an easier rotation and to get through the overs quicker to have more time with the new ball under lights. There’s both those elements we will consider with how a spinner is to be used in a day/night game.”