A ‘shellshocked’ Ben Stokes insists England can still challenge for a famous Ashes series victory in Australia, despite being thrashed inside two days during the first Test in Perth.
England were 65-1 and 105 runs ahead early in the afternoon session on day two, only to leave the Optus Stadium barely four and a half hours later having suffered the fastest Ashes defeat in over a century.
The tourists lost five wickets for just 21 runs in a chaotic eight-over spell before being swept aside for 164, having been bundled out for 172 in the first innings the previous day, before Australia needed just 28.2 overs to chase down their target of 205 and move 1-0 up in the five-Test series.
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Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton dissects England’s day-two batting collapse in first Ashes Test in Perth
Travis Head smashed a 69-ball ton and finished with 123 in just 83 deliveries, having stepped up to open ahead of the injured Usman Khawaja, with England’s five-man pace attack unable to prevent a 14th defeat from their last 16 Ashes Tests in Australia.
“I’m a little shellshocked at the moment,” Stokes admitted after the loss. “I didn’t see that one coming. It’s quite raw. We need to let emotions like this sink in and it has got to hurt. There’s a lot of disappointment when you walk off having been on the losing side.
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Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain were heckled by fans during the Sky Sports Cricket podcast record!
“At the moment I’m still in a little bit of a ‘wow’ phase after what Travis Head has just done to us. It was a pretty incredible, special knock from Travis. I thought 200 was a pretty defendable score…but he had an answer for absolutely everything.”
England haven’t won the first Test of an Ashes in Australia since the 1986/87 series, which they went on to win, with Stokes admitting the day/night second Test at Brisbane which begins on December 4 may now be must-win to keep the series alive.
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Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain were heckled by fans during the Sky Sports Cricket podcast record!
“I will wake up tomorrow and still be incredibly disappointed but all my focus and energy will be going into getting the group back up,” Stokes said. “You have to get rid of it as quickly as possibly while learning from it.
“When we get to Brisbane we need to be back to that mindset we had before this game. We are still very confident in our abilities in achieving a goal and we cannot take any baggage from this result into Brisbane, because we need to win that one.
“We have been behind in series before and we’re good at dealing with emotions.”
‘Outstanding’ Head delivers ‘one of the great Ashes knocks’
Head smashed four sixes and added 16 fours during his impressive innings as he put on a 75-run opening stand with debutant Jake Weatherald (23) before forming a 117-run partnership with Marnus Labuschagne to push Australia to success.
“That was incredible to witness,” Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith said. “I’m glad I was in the house to watch it. Trav took it on and played one of the great Ashes knocks.”
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Nasser Hussain reflects on England’s crushing defeat in the first Ashes Test against Australia in Perth
England head coach Brendon McCullum added: “I thought 200 was a good score for us to try to defend. The way Travis Head played was absolutely outstanding.
“It’s one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen in a pressure situation on a tough wicket. He knocked us off our lengths. We wanted to try to hold length as long as we possibly could and we weren’t able to do so.
“I spoke to [Adam Gilchrist] just before the last innings and he said, ‘I think you guys have got 30 too many.’ We might have needed another 230 the way that Travis played. If someone delivers a performance such as that, you have to tip your cap.
Travis Head’s century was the joint-third fastest by an Australian in Test cricket
“Yes, we’ll look at how we can control things better if that confronts us again, but you’ve got to acknowledge how special a knock that was, particularly out of the batting position as well.”
Ashes series in Australia 2025-26
All times UK and Ireland
First Test (Perth): Australia beat England by eight wicketsSecond Test (day/night): Thursday December 4 – Monday December 8 (4am) – The Gabba, BrisbaneThird Test: Wednesday December 17 – Sunday December 21 (11.30pm) – Adelaide OvalFourth Test: Thursday December 25 – Monday December 29 (11.30pm) – Melbourne Cricket GroundFifth Test: Sunday January 4 – Thursday January 8 (11.30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground
