Ashes on the edge: Gabba chaos, Cummins mystery and Stokes’ mind games light up second Test eve

Charles Reynolds in Brisbane: The wait is almost over. The time for recriminations, golf, net practice, media-concocted e-scooter  scandals, and for good measure, yet more net practice, is finished. Now we finally move to this decisive second Test, a do or die pink ball examination at the Gabba – so often the graveyard of English Ashes hopes.

Less than 24 hours out and the Gabba seems determined to inject some late drama, from a smoke alarm triggering an afternoon evacuation of the ground, to the rather more pertinent whispers about the potential late inclusion of Pat Cummins in the Australian side.

Stokes: ‘We’ll be going to try and get the win’

Speaking to the media at the shady boundary’s edge of the ground, Ben Stokes was not going to be drawn into speculation – even offering some light mind games of his own.

“I see it as they probably don’t know what XI they’re going to pick until the toss,” said Stokes. “We’ll just have to wait and see what XI they go with.”

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Australia are undoubtedly a better side with the inclusion of Cummins, an excellent leader of this side and one of the world’s premier fast bowlers. However as Stokes was keen to point out, the challenge for England ultimately remains the same – win here and keep their Ashes hopes alive.

“He’s done great things not only as a player, but he’s been great since he’s been given the responsibility of being captain for Australia.

“Whatever XI they go with - if Pat’s there, if Pat’s not - we’ll still be going in there to try and get the win too.”

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Meanwhile, on the English side of the selection news cycle, there has only been one story: the inclusion of Will Jacks in place of the injured Mark Wood. Jacks was something of a wildcard when England announced their Ashes touring party back in September, now he finds himself set to add to his two career Tests and the latest entry into the Bazball era’s somewhat left-field decision-making canon.

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Final prep for a few of our middle order 👊 pic.twitter.com/B9aVln5Phx

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England pick Jacks over Bashir

Shoaib Bashir has long been this regime’s pet project, groomed with this Ashes series specifically in mind, his height prized above all else as a key asset on Australian decks. However, now that it has come down to the crunch, England have moved all their chips onto Jacks.

“We tried to look at how we thought spin was going to be used and there was a bit of a tactical element to it,” said Stokes. “Obviously Jacksy’s ability with the bat to have that down the order for us is useful as well. If it ever comes down to picking our best, number one spinner, selection would go the other way.”

Some may worry that this latest gamble by England will come back to haunt them. Stokes, unsurprisingly, was keen to sing the praises of Jacks: “Since coming into the squad in Pakistan and starting off very, very well, he’s turned himself into a cricketer I always thought he could be.

“He’s incredibly talented and I think he’s gone from strength to strength since two-and-a-half/three years ago, since that Pakistan tour.

“He’s been playing so well in the nets and the time he’s been out here training. It’s great for us that we’ve got someone who’s looking in pretty good order coming into a big Test match.”

The latter point is certainly true, Jacks has impressed in the countless net sessions England have had since Perth, the opposite, unfortunately, could be said for Bashir. Given all that and the all-round game that Jacks offers England, their decision-making seems justified.

Meanwhile, the wait to discover if it’s successful is getting shorter by the hour.