The Ashes: England trail on first innings in Brisbane as Australia punish wayward bowling and five dropped catches

England were punished for wayward bowling and a catalogue of dropped catches as Australia carved out a first-innings lead on day two of the pink-ball second Ashes Test at The Gabba.

Replying to England's Joe Root-inspired 334 all out, Australia reached 378-6 by stumps for a lead of 44 as Steve Smith (61), Marnus Labuschagne (65) and Jake Weatherald (72) each passed fifty after feasting on short, wide and full deliveries from their opponents' attack across the first two sessions in Brisbane.

England shot into life in a two-wicket 57th over under the lights with the expensive Brydon Carse (3-113) bowling Cameron Green (45) and removing Smith as Will Jacks produced a stunning one-handed catch, at which point Australia were 292-5 and 42 runs in arrears.

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But Alex Carey (46no), who had been dropped first ball by Ben Duckett at gully in that eventful Carse over and then again on 25 by Root at slip off Gus Atkinson, guided the hosts through to the close and into a decent spot from which to push for a 2-0 series lead after victory inside two days of the Perth opener.

Duckett also grassed Josh Inglis (23) at gully on 21 before captain Ben Stokes (2-93) rearranged the No 7's stumps, while Michael Neser (15no) was shelled by Carse at cover on six as England spilled five catches all told.

There had been sloppiness in the field from the visitors earlier on with wicketkeeper Jamie Smith dropping Travis Head on three off the bowling of Jofra Archer (1-74), with that blunder costing 30 runs before their destroyer in Perth holed out off Carse for 33.

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Australia feast on freebies as England bowlers toil

Head, opening again after his 69-ball hundred in the first Ashes Test, and Weatherald crunched a first-wicket stand of 77 from 79 balls after the innings had started with three successive maidens as England's discipline disappeared.

There were free-scoring fifty-plus stands throughout the order, despite Stokes' side tightening up after tea as Weatherald - whose 45-ball fifty was his first in Tests - was pinned lbw by Archer and Stokes had Labuschagne caught behind on the cut.

Labuschagne continued his love affair with pink-ball Tests, passing fifty for the ninth time in 16 innings in the format as he upped his tally of runs to 1,023 at an average of 63.93.

England's short-ball tactic in the night session, performed with a replacement Kookaburra after the initial one had gone out of shape, did not reap rewards to start with as Green collared Carse for boundaries, but the same batter was then surprised by the fuller one and castled as he backed away to leg and exposed his stumps, the wicket ending a 95-run alliance with Smith.

Smith - batting in Shivnarine Chanderpaul-esque 'eye blacks' to counter the floodlights' glare - then saw his hopes of a 13th Ashes hundred ended by Jacks' screamer on the run at backward square.

There was a feeling of positivity for England after Root's first Ashes century on Australian soil - one that ensured Australia great Matthew Hayden would not have to walk nude around the MCG - had guided the tourists to 325-9 by stumps on day one.

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But that quickly evaporated the following day once a superb diving catch from Labuschagne at deep backward square snapped a 10th-wicket stand of 70 off 58 balls between Archer (38 off 36) and Root (138no off 206) in the third over.

Belief returned for England with Carse's two wickets in four balls under the lights but Australia are now well on top.

Hussain: England were awful - but then showed character

Sky Sports Cricket's Nasser Hussain:

"When Rob Key took over as England managing director of men's cricket, he said 'strap yourself in and enjoy the ride'.

"If you have been an England fan out there for the four days of the Ashes so far, it has been a heck of a ride. There has been some really good and some really bad and not much in between. That has been summed up in Brisbane today.

"England were awful in the first two sessions - bowled short and wide, exactly how you are not supposed to bowl at The Gabba against players who love that - but they showed a lot of character after dinner to get slightly back into the game.

"I think Stokes will be frustrated by the lengths that were bowled in the first two sessions, banging it in halfway down.

"You'd be foolish to call anything too soon in this Ashes series as it seems to switch so quickly from a poor position to a good position and back again. But if England lose this Test, it's a long way back.

"We have not yet had Australia's Mitchell Starc bowling with a brand new pink ball at twilight in this Test, so England need to wrap up these four wickets early on tomorrow and get batting before Starc gets a new ball under lights.

"If England bat well second time around and get a lead of 200 and the pitch then does get uneven, batting last on it could be hard for Australia."

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26

All times UK and Ireland

• First Test (Perth): Australia beat England by eight wickets
• Second Test (day/night): Thursday December 4 - Monday December 8 (4am) - The Gabba, Brisbane
• Third Test: Wednesday December 17 - Sunday December 21 (11.30pm) - Adelaide Oval
• Fourth Test: Thursday December 25 - Monday December 29 (11.30pm) - Melbourne Cricket Ground
• Fifth Test: Sunday January 4 - Thursday January 8 (11.30pm) - Sydney Cricket Ground