Ashes 2025 live score: England search for early Australia wickets on day three after painful dropped catches

And there is Alex Carey’s half-century – a fine hand from the wicketkeeper-batter, made typically breezily from just 52 balls to lift Australia into a lead that now numbers 49.

Brydon Carse shares starter duties, with Carey tucking a single into the leg side. A short ball makes sure that Michael Neser is fully alert, with a calm bob beneath it suggesting he very much is. A flick to deep backward square leg gets him going for the day.

Carey pinches the strike as a cut takes him to 49.

The first run of the day is nudged just backward of point by Alex Carey, with Michael Neser through quickly for a sharp single to wake up the legs.

Four solid blocks from Neser see out the first over of the day.

Ben Stokes has ball in hand having shaken off the cramp he was dealing with last night. A crucial passage, this.

Out the two batters come on another scorching Brisbane day. A bit of a breeze blowing, it seems, which is welcome with the humidity high.

Alex Carey played pretty well late last night, counter-punching effectively after being given a couple of lives. Michael Neser can bat, too – the seamer averages north of 40 in the County Championship after stints with Glamorgan and Hampshire. There’s Mitchell Starc to come, of course, as well…

Right, here we go then – a potentially defining day for the Ashes, and the entire England regime. The pitch is starting to break up a bit and “plate”, creating a few cracks that will open up as the Test continues – but it remains a pleasant pitch for now. How far can Australia stretch their lead?

“We worked as hard as we could in the lead up to this,” Root said when discussing the fielding errors on day two at The Gabba. “We had five days of prep and we did a huge amount of catching and making sure we utilised those two sessions under lights well.

“You could look at it like that [England could have played in Canberra] but you can’t replicate that surface [at the Gabba], the bounce, the way the nicks come. It’s never going to be exactly the same, it’s never going to be perfect. All you can do is give yourself the best possible chance and I think we’ve done that.

“In the lead up to this game we’ve got used to conditions, we’ve got used to the heat, we got used to the surfaces. The nets were at 3mm [grass length], the same as the wicket. We faced our own bowlers, we’ve caught under lights, we’ve caught in daylight and tried to catch in twilight as well. Sometimes they don’t stick and you’re always looking for answers.

“Sometimes they just don’t stick and you’ve got to keep applying yourself and wanting the ball so you’re ready when that next opportunity comes.”

“We weren’t playing silly buggers with him not being in the squad and in the mix,” Chair of selectors George Bailey said.

“But I think once we got up here, saw his training, got as much of the background medical information as well, it became a live possibility,” he said. “Then it was just working through the permutations of what would that look like in terms of the amount of overs, what would it look like going forward from that as well.

“I don’t think we thought he was going to be as close, it really changed through the week. Then risk tolerance became the conversation around what could he take on. Yes, he could have played. There would have been some restrictions around the overs and then obviously just the permutations [around that].”