Pat Cummins’ return from injury has been pushed back but Australia have pulled the trigger on a bigger selection bombshell by dropping Nathan Lyon for the second NRMA Insurance Ashes Test at the Gabba.
Michael Neser has earnt a surprise recall in front of his home Brisbane fans while Josh Inglis has replaced the injured Usman Khawaja and will play his first Test at home as England won the toss and elected to bat on Thursday afternoon.
Travis Head will remain in the opening spot that he stunned England from in Perth, leaving Inglis to bat in the middle order.
“I think they (the fans) will get what they want if that’s what they want,” Head told Fox Cricket before play. “It looks like I’ll pretty obviously open the batting, so I’ve prepared that way.”
This will be Inglis’ fourth Test and first in an Ashes series, while Neser is pulling on the Baggy Green for the first time in three years.
Australia XI: Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
Cummins ramped up his comeback from his lower-back injury this week and had been touted as a possible inclusion here despite not being named in the hosts’ squad.
Ultimately the Aussies, 1-0 up in the series, decided not to risk their skipper, leaving Steve Smith to take the reins again.
“He was close,” Smith said at the toss of Cummins. “He’s done everything right the last little bit. We just thought it would be a little bit risky this game but he’s certainly tracking well for the next one.”
The big call has instead been made on Lyon, who has now been dropped for two pink-ball Tests in a row.
Australia insisted at the summer’s outset they would be unlikely to dump the 38-year-old off-spinner again after doing so for the floodlit Test in Jamaica in July.
But Lyon only bowled two overs in Perth, while Neser is becoming something of a pink-ball specialist.
All three of the Queenslander’s Test caps now have come under lights.
Pink ball ‘great for the game’ as Head eyes Gabba challenge
“Pink ball, we think it’s going to offer quite a bit, particularly later on under lights,” said Smith.
“With no daylight savings here, you play in the night a lot. We think that’s going to be the best (team) for this particular fixture.”
Neser’s inclusion also fixes an area of weakness for Australia in the absence of Cummins; their lower-order batting. The allrounder has five first-class hundreds to his name and averages nearly 30 at that level.
England confirmed their XI earlier this week, making one change from their eight-wicket defeat in Perth; off-spinning allrounder Will Jacks comes in to deepen their batting line-up with Mark Wood out due to injury.
Stokes said he wanted to bat first to ensure they can bowl later on day one in favourable bowling conditions under lights, a strategy Smith confirmed he would have pursued if he won the toss.
But Stokes remained unsure on how the surface would play: “A lot of people look at wickets and think, ‘It’s going to do this, it’s going to do that’.
“But you never really know until you get out there and see some cricket played on it,” he said.
A moment’s silence was held before play for the death of former England batter Robin Smith this week, while both teams also wore black arm bands in his honour.
2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men’s Ashes
First Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3pm AEDT
Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT
Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT
Australia squad (second Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood
