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by Timothy Abraham, Elizabeth Botcherby, Esha Nayar & George Booth

  1. Australia and Starc: Pink-ball masters

    Mitchell Starc looks at the pink ballGetty Images

    England haven't won at the Gabba since 1986 and if that statistic doesn't dent your hopes, these might...

    Australia have an outstanding record in day-night Tests, winning 13 of their 14 matches around the world.

    West Indies are the only visiting team to beat them in a pink-ball Test. England have lost three from three in Australia.

    Oh, and Australia pacer Mitchell Starc is the pink-ball king, with 81 wickets at 17.08.

    However, if my doom and gloom isn't the energy you want, BBC Sport's Matt Henry has picked out five reasons why England fans can be positive in Brisbane.

  2. Listen on BBC Sounds

    BBC Sounds

    Remember, you can listen to live coverage of every day of the Ashes on the BBC Sounds app - so you can take Test Match Special wherever you go!

    Or, if you're at home, just ask your smart speaker to 'play Sports Extra'.

  3. Why is a pink ball used in the Ashes?

    Ask Me Anything

    Root and Head divided on merits of pink-ball Test in Ashes

    Why is a pink ball used in the Ashes? Well, our Ask Me Anything team has the answer for you - take a look at this handy explainer.

    You can also read more on Joe Root and Travis Head's thoughts on pink-ball Tests here.

  4. What happened in Perth?

    Mitchell Starc raises his arms in celebrationGetty Images
    Ben Stokes (centre, surrounded by his team-mates) holds the ball up in celebrationGetty Images
    Travis Head acknowledges the crowd as he leaves the fieldGetty Images

    Perhaps a better question would be what didn't happen in Perth?

    19 wickets on day one, England twice bowled out for under 200, and a century for Travis Head as Australia completed an eight-wicket win inside two days.

    Mitchell Starc took 7-58 as England were skittled for 172 inside 33 overs in their first innings. There were ducks for Zak Crawley and Joe Root and the final five wickets fell in the space of 19 balls for the addition of 12 runs.

    Australia replied with an underwhelming 132, Alex Carey top-scoring with 26 and Ben Stokes taking 5-23, before England endured another poor outing with the bat.

    Crawley (0) was one of four members of the top six to fail to reach double figures as England slumped to 88-6 before some lower order resistance from Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse helped push their lead beyond 200.

    However, Head, promoted to the top of the order in Usman Khawaja's absence, made light work of chasing 205, battering 123 (83) to hand his side a 1-0 series lead.

  5. Ashes schedule

    One down, four to go...

    • First Test (Perth) - Australia won by eight wickets
    • Second Test: 4-8 December (04:00 GMT), Brisbane
    • Third Test: 16-20 December (23:30 GMT), Adelaide
    • Fourth Test: 25-29 December (23:30 GMT), Melbourne
    • Fifth Test: 3-7 January (23:30 GMT), Sydney

  6. How's stat?!

    Srinivas Vijaykumar
    CricViz analyst

    Ben Stokes winning the toss electing to bat first, going with the usual trend in pink ball Tests in Australia.

    In the 13 previous Day/Night Tests down under, the captain winning the toss elected to bat first on 11 occasions. On six of these 11 occasions, the teams went on to win the Test.

  7. Australia captain Steve Smith: "If you bat well it gives you a chance to manipulate the game to bowl under the lights, hopefully we can win.

    "Pat is doing alright but it's risky to put him in for this game. Travis Head is to open. Neser is in for Lyon. With the pink ball, there's no daylight savings here, it's going go be the best way to take 20 wickets it this fixture.

    "We've done well in the past but it's a new game."

  8. England captain Ben Stokes: "We'll bat. We'll look at how things play out. With the different conditions you get with the daylight and when the lights come later, you want to give yourself a chance to bat in easier conditions.

    "We had extra time to build up to the game, the lads are ready to go and play.

    "People look at wickets and think it will do things but you don't know until you've played on it.

    "We're coming here on the back of a disappointing week, we want to right those wrongs."

  9. Listen live

    BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

    The Test Match Special team are in Australia providing ball-by-ball coverage of all five Tests on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.

    Click the 'listen live' button at the top of this page or head to BBC Sounds.

  10. Jacks replaces Wood, no Cummins for Australia

    Will JacksGetty Images

    England have made one change to their XI, with injured pacer Mark Wood replaced by Will Jacks. The batting all-rounder, who bowls off-spin, is making his first Test appearance since December 2022.

    Steve Smith will once again captain Australia in the absence of Pat Cummins, who hasn't recovered from injury in time to feature in Brisbane.

    Travis Head, fresh off his Perth century, will open the batting alongside Jake Weatherald, with injured opener Usman Khawaja replaced by Josh Inglis.

    Michael Neser comes in for spinner Nathan Lyon as Australia go big on pace.

  11. The teams

    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.

    Australia XI: Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett.

  12. England win the toss and bat

    England have won the toss and for the second match in a row, Ben Stokes has opted to bat first.

  13. Hello!

    Hello there! We go again. It's time for the second Ashes Test.

    Can England master the pink ball and win a Test at the Gabba for the first time since 1986 to level the series?

    Toss and team news coming up.