The Ashes 2025: England fight but face battle to beat Australia at the Gabba

Carse, usually so reliable, had been as guilty as anyone of spraying the ball around Brisbane – he conceded 113 runs from his 17 overs.

And it was indicative of England’s situation that the Durham man was asked to bowl a spell of bouncers in the night session, when usually the floodlights would offer the kind of movement to encourage orthodox seam bowling.

With Green stepping back to flay an expected short ball, he was bluffed by a Carse yorker that splattered the stumps. From the next ball, Carey gloved a venomous lifter, only for Ben Duckett to grass the vital catch moving forward from gully.

Still, in the same over, Carse got the crucial wicket of Smith thanks to Jacks’ moment of magic. Smith tried to drag a pull around the corner only for Jacks, at backward square leg, to fling himself to his right and cling on with his right hand.

Inglis and Carey countered, boundaries continued to flow and Duckett put down another chance – this time Inglis at gully off the bowling off Stokes. Three balls later, Stokes removed Inglis’ middle stump.

There was still time for England to create two more chances, and for Carey and Neser to add 49 from only 55 balls.

Neser, on six, drilled Jofra Archer to cover where Carse failed to cling on. Carey had 25 when he slashed Gus Atkinson between Smith and first-slip Joe Root. Root dived to his right, but it was the static Smith who should have made the effort.