The Ashes

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England may have experienced the toughest conditions they will face in the Ashes, says former Australia captain Tim Paine.

Ben Stokes' side lost the first Test in Perth by eight wickets, with a number of batters coming undone by the pace of the pitch and the bounce it offered.

Paine, who captained Australia in the 2019 Ashes, said Perth "was the hardest place to start".

"I wouldn't read too much into Perth, now everyone's settled into the series a bit more," Paine told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Everyone judged the English boys really harshly in Perth, [but] that is a foreign place for Australians to play, most of us, unless we grow up in Western Australia.

"To be fending at balls and nicking off and looking silly in Perth is not just an English thing. We've done that ourselves.

"The positive thing for them now is they've seen it at its bounciest and the rest of this year should get a little bit easier for them."

Paine warned Australia that England will still be a threat and the destination of the Ashes was not a foregone conclusion.

"England showed at times when they get it right, they're going to have some good days and their good days are normally enough to win a Test match so Australia are going to have to be right on their game," he said.

"I'm still fascinated to see it unfolds because the way England play, they have a couple of good days, then they're going to be in front of a game, aren't they?

"But I think over 25 days of Ashes cricket, Australia's ability to probably play the percentages and do things better for a little bit longer and more consistently will probably be the difference."

Batter Travis Head says Australia have "a fair bit to work through" with his role and their batting line-up for the second Test in Brisbane.

Head was promoted to open in the second innings of the first Test in Perth with Usman Khawaja struggling with back spasms.

The left-hander responded with a swashbuckling century - the second-fastest in Ashes history - to set up the an eight-wicket win.

It has prompted a debate about whether Head should open permanently or if Josh Inglis, the spare batter in Australia's squad, could do it or replace Head in the middle order.

"I'm preparing for anything at this stage," said Head.

"There's a fair bit to work through. But I've just got here [in Brisbane] and we haven't had many conversations in the last week. It's about spending some time out of the game, as much as you can.

"I feel I can play in any role, so I'm open to (opening), and it's just trying to work out in-game and in moments when you may use that.

"But I think all options are on the table and have been for a long period of time, about where the team can potentially get better and where there's opportunities to potentially win games of cricket in moments. I think it's always been on the table.

The 31-year-old said he thought batting orders are "slightly overrated".

"But the traditionalists will say that's how it's got to be," he said.

"It's ever evolving and we'll see where we get to."

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Australia batter Steve Smith has been channeling his inner Shivnarine Chanderpaul as he prepares for the day-night second Test in Brisbane.

Smith, who will again captain Australia in the absence of the injured Pat Cummins, was seen applying black tape under his eyes.

It was something that Chanderpaul did plenty of times during his West Indies career.

The theory was that they act as anti-glare patches and stop the sun (or lights in Smith's case most likely) entering the peripheral area of the eyes.

Time will tell if Smith - and any of the other players - adopt the approach in the Test that starts on Thursday.

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Former Australia bowler Jason Gillespie says he would be more worried about the "robustness" of England's pace attack than their batting frailties.

England's all-pace attack of Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood and all-rounder Ben Stokes were lauded after the first innings in Perth, with former captain Michael Vaughan saying they were "as good as he's seen".

However, they struggled in the face of an onslaught from Travis Head in the second innings and paces were down, with Archer's average speed dropping from 90.3mph to 87.6mph.

Head went on to hit a swashbuckling century and set up an eight-wicket win for Australia.

"England should take a lot of heart from their first innings bowling and we saw glimpses with the bat from Harry Brook and Jamie Smith of batting nice and positively and scoring a few runs," Gillespie said on BBC World Service's Stumped podcast.

"Everyone talks about England's batting and it being aggressive - that will be hit and miss, it is inconsistent. When it is good, it is really good, when it is bad, it's really bad.

"I would be more concerned about the robustness of the bowling attack - it was chalk and cheese from day one to day two and in particular Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.

"I know they had different bowling plans but it was interesting to see the pace was well down from the previous day and they hadn't bowled a lot of overs.

"That would be my concern. Do they have enough work in the bank to be fit and strong enough to bowl consistently high pace across the course of a whole match and then back it up in the subsequent matches? That is the big question mark for me."

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Australia batter Travis Head has said England are "going to live by the sword or die by the sword" having decided not to send senior players to play a two-day pink ball match in Canberra.

The match against the Prime Minister's XI begins on Saturday, and none of the players who featured in the first Test are heading to the Australian capital.

The day-night match will largely be contested by England Lions squad, although Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts, who didn't play in Perth, have joined up with the group.

The decision by England management has drawn criticism from the English media, with BBC chief cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew saying England will be "held to account" if they preparation for the second Test backfires.

"You can either change the script and say, 'we're going to train', or you can double down and go, 'we've had this planned out, we know exactly how we want to go for five Tests'," Head said.

"You've got to respect the fact they've been a good team, and I reckon they've got their plans and they're doubling down.

"Credit to them, they're going to live by the sword or die by the sword, and we'll see where we're at in Brisbane."

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Australia batter Usman Khawaja has been highly critical of the decision to award the pitch for the first Test in Perth a rating of "very good".

In comments made at lunch for his foundation, external, Khawaja asked: "19 wickets on the first day, about 20 people got hit – that's a great wicket, that seems real fair?

"The same thing happened last year, that day one wicket. Steve Smith is by far the best cricketer I've played with. He's missing the middle of his bat by a long way, and he does not miss the middle of the bat.

"You can't really predict up and down; your hands can't catch up."

Khawaja has found his position in the Australia side under threat after Travis Head hammered a match-winning century from the top of the order in the first Test.

The 38-year-old suffered back spasms meaning he could not open in the first innings after spending time off the field.

He came in at four and made two before edging Brydon Carse behind and did not bat in the second innings after Australia opted to promote Head to open.

If Khawaja were to be dropped from the XI, Australia would either select in-form batter Josh Inglis or all-rounder Beau Webster in his place, with Head opening the batting.

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Former Australia bowler Jason Gillespie says it is "hard to see" how Usman Khawaja opens the batting in the second Ashes Test in Brisbane.

The left-hander, 38, suffered back spasms in the first Test in Perth meaning he could not open in the first innings after spending time off the field.

He came in at four and made two before edging Brydon Carse behind and did not bat in the second innings after Australia opted to promote Travis Head to open.

Head hit a swashbuckling century to set up an eight-wicket win and give Australia a 1-0 lead.

Going into the series, Khawaja was expected to be the settled figure at the top of the order with questions over who would partner him.

"I find it hard to see how Usman Khawaja comes back into the side at the top of the order," said Gillespie on BBC World Service's Stumped podcast.

"The Australian selectors will think long and hard about Travis Head opening again.

"If Head doesn't open, I'd actually be thinking about Josh Inglis. Or Josh Inglis bat at five and Travis Head opens. It would be one of two ways I look to go personally.

"The fitness of Usman Khawaja will be debated and discussed a lot but for me I think either Travis Head or Josh Inglis is probably the man to open for Australia."

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"Arrogant".

That's what former Australia pace bowler Mitchell Johnson has dubbed England - or the "cocky Poms" if you'd rather.

Johnson, who was player of the series in the 2013-14 Ashes series, added that England "need to stop patting themselves on the back" or they "risk serious embarrassment".

The online edition, external also calls England "horrendous and stupid".

Travis Head says he was wary of inciting England's pace bowlers during his swashbuckling century that won Australia the first Test in Perth.

Head, who was promoted to open, blazed 123 off 83 balls to set up an eight-wicket win.

He reached his century in 69 balls - the second-fastest behind Adam Gilchrist's 57 balls in an Ashes Test - and hit 16 fours and four sixes in his innings.

"I'm very realistic that they had two blokes bowling 150 clicks," Head said on Australian radio station Triple M.

"I accidentally hit Jofra (Archer) back over his head for six at one point and calmly walked back and marked centre and was like, 'Oh my god, why did I just do that?'

"Marnus [Labuschagne] came down and was like, 'I know you're trying to act cool, but that's unbelievable'. And he's yelling and screaming, and he's hoo-hah-ing.

"And I'm like, 'Mate, get back to the other end, at any moment they can put a hole through me, they bowl 150 clicks'."

Head also revealed he got a text saying well done from Gilchrist, and he replied asking: "How you hell did you do it quicker?".

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The pitch used in the first Test in Perth has given a rating of "very good" - the highest available - by the International Cricket Council.

The match was the first Ashes Test to finish inside two days for 104 years with 19 wickets falling on day one and a further 13 on day two.

The four-tier system has "very good" as its highest mark - with the characteristics needed for that mark outlined as: "Good carry, limited seam movement, and consistent bounce early in the match, allowing for a balanced contest between batters and bowlers".

The match lasted 847 deliveries, which is the third-fewest in an Ashes Test and the second-shortest game of any Test in Australia.

Cricket Australia's chief of cricket James Allsopp said: "The match referee's 'very good' rating justifies our belief Perth Stadium produced a pitch that provided a fair balance between bat and ball.

"The dominance of some brilliant pace bowling from both sides and the frenetic nature of the contest meant the match lasted only two days."

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England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker Sir James Anderson says he "would not be surprised" if they stuck with the same side for the second Ashes Test.

They opted for a four-man pace attack in the eight-wicket defeat in Perth, with captain Ben Stokes offering a fifth option and Joe Root as a part-time spinner.

The seamers were highly praised after the first innings, but failed to replicate that in the second innings under an onslaught from Travis Head.

"It [the all-pace attack] 100% worked in the first innings. We landed a few blows," said Anderson on the latest Tailenders podcast.

"I think that will be in their heads and I would not be surprised at all if we went with the same XI.

"I just wonder whether we lack a nuance with a bit of something different and a change of pace, whether that is a spinner or a slightly different pacer.

"If I have one criticism of England in the second innings [in Perth], they became predictable. Head knew they were bowling short, so he just sat on the back foot and hit his areas.

"It felt like everything has rushed. They were bowling ball after ball, over after over rather than taking some time and slowing things down.

"They tried to bring Root on but it didn't really work and there was no frontline spinner to just bowl four overs and change the pace of the game and make it slightly different for Head and give him something else to think about."

Watch the Tailenders first Test review on BBC iPlayer.