Joe Root eased into the Gabba nets on Sunday with one question nagging at him: does the Ashes actually need a day-night match? Speaking four days out from the second Test, England’s former captain admitted the novelty of the pink ball still intrigues him, yet he is not convinced it is essential to the sport’s oldest rivalry.
“I personally don’t think so,” he said when asked whether a marquee series should contain an artificial twist. “It does add to things. It’s obviously very successful and popular here, and obviously Australia have got a very good record here as well. You can see why we’re playing one of those games and ultimately, you know from two years out that it is going to be there… A series like this, does it need it? I don’t think so, but it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be here either.”
Thursday’s meeting in Brisbane will be the 25th men’s Test staged with a pink Kookaburra and the fourth in an Ashes context. Tickets for the first three days have gone, despite healthy demand for every match on this tour, and the 2 pm local start delivers a prime-time last session for home broadcasters while still falling in daylight breakfast hours for UK viewers.
Australia have won 13 of their 14 day-night Tests, with only a blip against West Indies at this ground last summer. England’s own pink-ball history is mixed—seven outings, just one victory—yet Root believes the format’s rhythm can be mastered with a clear head.
He reminded his team of “how quickly the game can change” under lights. “At different phases of the day, it can feel quite placid and you can feel out of the game with the ball, and things can turn around,” he said. “Similarly, with the bat, [it is about] recognising those moments and utilising them as best you can: when to put the foot down and maximise the good batting conditions; similarly, being able to maximise it when it changes and how quickly it changes.”
One notable quirk this week is the earlier sunset. “It looks like we’ll have half of a day under floodlights. The twilight phase is in the middle session, when usually that comes around the back end of the second session and the start of the last session,” Root observed. That swing in natural light tends to exaggerate seam movement for a handful of overs, then calm just as abruptly. “There will be different elements to contend with, but that is all part of the fun, right? Can we be skilful enough and brave enough to be better than Australia in those big moments?”
Cricket Australia and the ECB agreed to the conditions months ago, satisfying ICC rules that both boards must consent to a day-night fixture. Administrators point to the commercial upside—brisk ticket sales and healthy viewing figures—and argue that the pink-ball Test now feels less gimmick and more staple. Yet the debate over competitive balance, especially in Australia where home bowlers handle the lacquered ball expertly, continues to rumble.
England’s broader Gabba record hardly sparkles; their last victory here came in 1986-87, three years before Root was born. Still, the Yorkshireman takes heart from recent successes at supposed fortresses elsewhere, including Cape Town and Chennai. “It is a chance to make a bit of history,” Root said. “It will make it all that bit sweeter if we can get over the line here. I’ve played at other venues where we’ve got terrible records, then come out and won; it’s a great feeling. That’s the carrot dangled in front of us.”
Coach Brendon McCullum has kept selection cards close to his chest, though it would be surprising if the visitors did not pair James Anderson’s new-ball skill with the extra bounce of Mark Wood. The batting order appears settled, Root likely retaining his familiar spot at four as he searches for the substantial score that eluded him in the series opener.
Across the corridor, Pat Cummins faces his own choices, chiefly whether to rotate his quicks so early in a five-match campaign. Australia’s camp insists the pink ball does not automatically confer an advantage, pointing to Root’s double hundred in Adelaide back in 2021 as proof England can thrive under lights.
For the moment, the intrigue sits mostly in Root’s musing: is the experiment still worth it? The only certain answer will come under the Gabba’s floodlights, in that tricky twilight band when matches tend to swing, sometimes literally, in a matter of overs.
