Australia’s Test players have inspected the Optus Stadium pitch for the first time ahead of the first Ashes Test against England, scheduled to begin on Friday in Perth
Australia’s Test players have inspected the Optus Stadium pitch for the first time ahead of the first Ashes Test against England, scheduled to begin on Friday in Perth. Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith and wicketkeeper Alex Carey were seen examining the Perth pitch on Monday morning, as per The Sydney Morning Herald. Smith will lead the Aussies with designated captain Pat Cummins ruled out of the fixture due to the lumbar stress injury he sustained in September.
With four days still to go for the first ball of the Ashes opener, the pitch has a noticeable green tinge and an even grass cover. Yet, with Perth’s temperatures expected to exceed 30 degrees Celsius over the next couple of days, the surface will likely dry out as the week progresses.
Former Australia Test captain Greg Chappell wrote in his column for The Sydney Morning Herald that Australia should prepare for a Perth surface that “boasts a reputation built on sheer pace and bounce”.
“The strip here is pure energy, where the ball flies with a velocity unmatched anywhere else,” Chappell wrote.
Notably, the Australians had a tough time the last time they played a Test match on the pitch at the Optus Stadium, last year. Australia, led by Pat Cummins, faced a mammoth 295-run defeat against India in the first Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. The match saw the Australian batting lineup struggle big time while Indian batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli scored sublime centuries.
Australia will hold their first training session on Monday afternoon after arriving in Perth on Sunday. Meanwhile, England’s squad has been given a day off following last week’s practice match against the Lions at Lilac Hill.
Notably, England will enter the series with a forgettable 13-0 record against the Aussies down under since their last win back in 2010/11. Led by Ben Stokes, they will look to break the record against an experienced Australian lineup.
The Ashes 2025-26 squads
Australia squad (first Test): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales shared the one drive against the Falcons that made him “sick” because they did not score points.
The Carolina Panthers got another big win in Week 11. Carolina beat Atlanta 30-27 in an overtime thriller on Sunday, improving their record to 6-5 on the season. The Panthers left some points on the table and could have easily won by a wide margin. It is apparently still on the mind of their head coach.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales explained that he was frustrated that Carolina could not score on one crucial drive in the third quarter.
Bam Martin-Scott forced a fumble on the kickoff follow Carolina’s first score of the second half. Rookie Princely Umanmielen recovered the fumble, giving the Panthers the ball at the Atlanta 32-yard line.
The Panthers drove the ball all the way down to the Atlanta eight-yard line but were stopped on fourth down, resulting in a turnover.
“I’m sick that we didn’t get points out of that one,” Canales said on Monday, per Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer. Kaye added that he thinks that turnover did help the Panthers by cooling down the Falcons’ offense.
Canales seemed to suggest that Carolina could have taken over the second half if they scored a touchdown on that drive.
Thankfully the Panthers found their way into the win column all the same.
Young is finally showing Panthers fans why he merited the first overall pick.
The third-year quarterback made franchise history on Sunday, setting a new record for single-game passing yards.
“Bryce Young has reset the Panthers’ single-game passing record with 448 yards today. Record was 432 from Cam Newton in 2011,” Greg Auman of Fox Sports reported.
Newton is of course the high-water mark for quarterback play in Panthers history. That makes it all the more impressive that Young was able to break Newton’s record.
It is great to see Carolina finally having some success during the Young-Canales era.
Next up for the Panthers is a Week 12 matchup against the 49ers.