England 6-1 for Ashes comeback after Australia's stunning victory in Perth

England are 6-1 to win the 2025-26 Ashes series after collapsing to an extraordinary eight-wicket defeat against Australia in the first Test. 

England's battle plan, more than three years in the making, unravelled in the space of five hours at the Optus Stadium in Perth.

After 19 wickets fell on the first day of the Test, England were well placed at lunch on day two, leading by 99 runs with nine second-innings wickets in hand.

More than £100,000 was matched on England at 1.39 and 1.4 on Betfair's Exchange before Ben Duckett's dismissal sparked a collapse from 65-1 to 104-7.

Some late hitting from Gus Atkinson (37) and Brydon Carse (20) set Australia a victory target of 205 – not an easy task given that the first three innings of the match were 172, 132 and 164.

But Travis Head, promoted to open due to Usman Khawaja's back spasms, made a stunning 123 off 83 balls to wrap up victory inside two days at the Optus Stadium.

A match that had promised so much for England ended in a demoralising defeat. Head pumped visiting captain Ben Stokes for four boundaries in five balls, then hit Jofra Archer for six over long-on.

Marnus Labuschagne levelled the scores with a straight six off Joe Root, whose series started with scores of nought and eight, before stand-in Aussie skipper Steve Smith hit the winning run.

2025-26 Ashes series betting odds

Odds correct at time of publishing

Reckless England batters shown up by Head

England's triumphant 2010-11 Ashes tour began with a famous draw in Brisbane, where Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott batted for 152 overs in the second innings.

Nobody was expecting that kind of resilience from the 2025-26 Bazballers but losing 20 wickets in 67.3 overs in Perth was, to quote former Test captain Michael Vaughan, "inexcusable".

The first two innings of the match followed a similar pattern to last year's Perth Test in which India were bowled out for 150 before skittling Australia for 104.

But, whereas India racked up 487-6 to set up a 295-run win, England blew a golden opportunity in their second innings.

Loose drives cost Root, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook their wickets and, despite Head's brilliant century, the sense is that England lost this Test rather than that Australia won it.

Nine of Head's ten Test centuries have been scored at home. He knows exactly how and when to go after the bowling on pacy Australian pitches whereas England's batters are unwilling, or unable, to adapt to conditions.

The Aussies, missing injured fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, had been on the ropes at lunch on day two. They had been rolled for 132 in their first innings of the series. A huge fourth-innings run-chase was looming against a fired-up England attack on a difficult pitch. 

One of their openers, the 38-year-old Khawaja, was out of form and suffering back spasms. The other, Jake Weatherald, was on a pair on his Test debut. And yet, only five hours later, England had lost – comprehensively – for the 14th time in their last 16 Tests in Australia

Starc's pink-ball record bodes well for Aussies

England are scheduled to face the Prime Minister's XI in a two-day tour match played with a pink ball in Canberra next weekend.

However, they had been planning to rest the Test squad for that fixture, instead fielding a team made up of England Lions players.

That would mean they have no competitive pink-ball preparation before the day-night Test in Brisbane so it will be interesting to see whether the tourists change their plans.

England's batsmen certainly need to rethink their approach after a pathetic performance in Perth and a change of batting personnel is not really an option. 

While England will rest and rotate their fast bowlers throughout the series, their spare batters are Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks – two dashing strokeplayers with just six Test caps between them.

Australia drifted from 8-13 to 4-5 to win the series after day one in Perth but, having gone 1-0 up, they are just 1-4. 

A 5-0 clean sweep is a best-priced 6-1 although the whitewash is 11-4 favourite in bet365's correct-score market. 

Home skipper Cummins is reportedly bowling at full tilt in the nets so could return at the Gabba. Mitchell Starc, player of the match in the first Test, has taken 81 wickets in 14 day-night Tests.

Australia's most recent pink-ball Test was in Kingston in July when, ominously for England, Starc took 6-9 as the West Indies were bowled out for 27 in the fourth innings.

England were being hailed as lions after the first day of the Ashes series. Now, though, their batsmen look like lambs heading to the Gabbatoir. 

Australia vs England: 2025-26 Ashes dates, schedule, results, start times & TV info 

First Test, Perth: Australia won by eight wickets
England 172 (Brook 52, Starc 7-58), Australia 132 (Carey 26, Stokes 5-23), England 164 (Atkinson 37, Boland 4-33), Australia 205-2 (Head 123, Carse 2-44)

December 4-8: Second Test, Brisbane (Day-night match, starts 4.30am)
December 17-21: Third Test, Adelaide (Starts midnight)
December 25-29: Fourth Test, Melbourne (Starts 11.30pm)
January 3-7: Fifth Test, Sydney (Starts 11.30pm)

TV: Live coverage on TNT Sports 1

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