The Ashes

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Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will play for Western Australia against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield this week as he looks to boost his hopes of a Test recall.

Marsh, 34, played the last of his 46 Tests in the Boxing Day game against India last year.

He was dropped for the final Test of that series after scoring 73 runs in seven innings and has not played any red-ball cricket since.

Marsh has nevertheless been touted as a potential option at the top of the order for Australia.

"An ongoing discussion from our side of things is, where does he fit into our team?" said WA head coach Voges. "He fits in, it's just a matter of where.

"I know there's been a lot of talk around Mitch and potential involvement in the Ashes, but I think we're just really pleased to have him in WA colours this week for the One-Day Cup and then the Shield game afterwards as well.

"I'd love to see him score a hundred for WA this week and really push that case.

"Let's see how this week goes and hopefully we're talking a little bit more about him at the end of this trip."

Image source, West Australian

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England may have experienced the toughest conditions they will face in the Ashes, says former Australia captain Tim Paine.

Ben Stokes' side lost the first Test in Perth by eight wickets, with a number of batters coming undone by the pace of the pitch and the bounce it offered.

Paine, who captained Australia in the 2019 Ashes, said Perth "was the hardest place to start".

"I wouldn't read too much into Perth, now everyone's settled into the series a bit more," Paine told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Everyone judged the English boys really harshly in Perth, [but] that is a foreign place for Australians to play, most of us, unless we grow up in Western Australia.

"To be fending at balls and nicking off and looking silly in Perth is not just an English thing. We've done that ourselves.

"The positive thing for them now is they've seen it at its bounciest and the rest of this year should get a little bit easier for them."

Paine warned Australia that England will still be a threat and the destination of the Ashes was not a foregone conclusion.

"England showed at times when they get it right, they're going to have some good days and their good days are normally enough to win a Test match so Australia are going to have to be right on their game," he said.

"I'm still fascinated to see it unfolds because the way England play, they have a couple of good days, then they're going to be in front of a game, aren't they?

"But I think over 25 days of Ashes cricket, Australia's ability to probably play the percentages and do things better for a little bit longer and more consistently will probably be the difference."

Batter Travis Head says Australia have "a fair bit to work through" with his role and their batting line-up for the second Test in Brisbane.

Head was promoted to open in the second innings of the first Test in Perth with Usman Khawaja struggling with back spasms.

The left-hander responded with a swashbuckling century - the second-fastest in Ashes history - to set up the an eight-wicket win.

It has prompted a debate about whether Head should open permanently or if Josh Inglis, the spare batter in Australia's squad, could do it or replace Head in the middle order.

"I'm preparing for anything at this stage," said Head.

"There's a fair bit to work through. But I've just got here [in Brisbane] and we haven't had many conversations in the last week. It's about spending some time out of the game, as much as you can.

"I feel I can play in any role, so I'm open to (opening), and it's just trying to work out in-game and in moments when you may use that.

"But I think all options are on the table and have been for a long period of time, about where the team can potentially get better and where there's opportunities to potentially win games of cricket in moments. I think it's always been on the table.

The 31-year-old said he thought batting orders are "slightly overrated".

"But the traditionalists will say that's how it's got to be," he said.

"It's ever evolving and we'll see where we get to."

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Australia batter Steve Smith has been channeling his inner Shivnarine Chanderpaul as he prepares for the day-night second Test in Brisbane.

Smith, who will again captain Australia in the absence of the injured Pat Cummins, was seen applying black tape under his eyes.

It was something that Chanderpaul did plenty of times during his West Indies career.

The theory was that they act as anti-glare patches and stop the sun (or lights in Smith's case most likely) entering the peripheral area of the eyes.

Time will tell if Smith - and any of the other players - adopt the approach in the Test that starts on Thursday.

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Former Australia bowler Jason Gillespie says he would be more worried about the "robustness" of England's pace attack than their batting frailties.

England's all-pace attack of Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood and all-rounder Ben Stokes were lauded after the first innings in Perth, with former captain Michael Vaughan saying they were "as good as he's seen".

However, they struggled in the face of an onslaught from Travis Head in the second innings and paces were down, with Archer's average speed dropping from 90.3mph to 87.6mph.

Head went on to hit a swashbuckling century and set up an eight-wicket win for Australia.

"England should take a lot of heart from their first innings bowling and we saw glimpses with the bat from Harry Brook and Jamie Smith of batting nice and positively and scoring a few runs," Gillespie said on BBC World Service's Stumped podcast.

"Everyone talks about England's batting and it being aggressive - that will be hit and miss, it is inconsistent. When it is good, it is really good, when it is bad, it's really bad.

"I would be more concerned about the robustness of the bowling attack - it was chalk and cheese from day one to day two and in particular Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.

"I know they had different bowling plans but it was interesting to see the pace was well down from the previous day and they hadn't bowled a lot of overs.

"That would be my concern. Do they have enough work in the bank to be fit and strong enough to bowl consistently high pace across the course of a whole match and then back it up in the subsequent matches? That is the big question mark for me."

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Australia batter Travis Head has said England are "going to live by the sword or die by the sword" having decided not to send senior players to play a two-day pink ball match in Canberra.

The match against the Prime Minister's XI begins on Saturday, and none of the players who featured in the first Test are heading to the Australian capital.

The day-night match will largely be contested by England Lions squad, although Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts, who didn't play in Perth, have joined up with the group.

The decision by England management has drawn criticism from the English media, with BBC chief cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew saying England will be "held to account" if they preparation for the second Test backfires.

"You can either change the script and say, 'we're going to train', or you can double down and go, 'we've had this planned out, we know exactly how we want to go for five Tests'," Head said.

"You've got to respect the fact they've been a good team, and I reckon they've got their plans and they're doubling down.

"Credit to them, they're going to live by the sword or die by the sword, and we'll see where we're at in Brisbane."

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Australia batter Usman Khawaja has been highly critical of the decision to award the pitch for the first Test in Perth a rating of "very good".

In comments made at lunch for his foundation, external, Khawaja asked: "19 wickets on the first day, about 20 people got hit – that's a great wicket, that seems real fair?

"The same thing happened last year, that day one wicket. Steve Smith is by far the best cricketer I've played with. He's missing the middle of his bat by a long way, and he does not miss the middle of the bat.

"You can't really predict up and down; your hands can't catch up."

Khawaja has found his position in the Australia side under threat after Travis Head hammered a match-winning century from the top of the order in the first Test.

The 38-year-old suffered back spasms meaning he could not open in the first innings after spending time off the field.

He came in at four and made two before edging Brydon Carse behind and did not bat in the second innings after Australia opted to promote Head to open.

If Khawaja were to be dropped from the XI, Australia would either select in-form batter Josh Inglis or all-rounder Beau Webster in his place, with Head opening the batting.

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Former Australia bowler Jason Gillespie says it is "hard to see" how Usman Khawaja opens the batting in the second Ashes Test in Brisbane.

The left-hander, 38, suffered back spasms in the first Test in Perth meaning he could not open in the first innings after spending time off the field.

He came in at four and made two before edging Brydon Carse behind and did not bat in the second innings after Australia opted to promote Travis Head to open.

Head hit a swashbuckling century to set up an eight-wicket win and give Australia a 1-0 lead.

Going into the series, Khawaja was expected to be the settled figure at the top of the order with questions over who would partner him.

"I find it hard to see how Usman Khawaja comes back into the side at the top of the order," said Gillespie on BBC World Service's Stumped podcast.

"The Australian selectors will think long and hard about Travis Head opening again.

"If Head doesn't open, I'd actually be thinking about Josh Inglis. Or Josh Inglis bat at five and Travis Head opens. It would be one of two ways I look to go personally.

"The fitness of Usman Khawaja will be debated and discussed a lot but for me I think either Travis Head or Josh Inglis is probably the man to open for Australia."

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"Arrogant".

That's what former Australia pace bowler Mitchell Johnson has dubbed England - or the "cocky Poms" if you'd rather.

Johnson, who was player of the series in the 2013-14 Ashes series, added that England "need to stop patting themselves on the back" or they "risk serious embarrassment".

The online edition, external also calls England "horrendous and stupid".