The Ashes 2025-26: England players refuse to play practice pink-ball game for England Lions ahead of day-night test in Brisbane

England currently trail by 0-1 in the Ashes 2025-26.

Only three members of the England test team that is in Australia for the Ashes 2025-26 will play for England Lions against the Prime Minister’s XI fixture in Canberra, with the game to be played with the pink ball under lights.

England were demolished in the first test of the Ashes in Perth by Australia by 8 wickets, after Mitchell Starc stunned them in the first innings with his career best 7/58 and 10 wickets. Then Travis Head hammered 123 in 83 balls as Australia chased down 205 runs with ease.

Following Saturday’s harsh ending to the first test, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum both emphasized the importance of keeping the team together in order to keep them apart from the outside noise and keep their spirits high. It is not surprising that they are holding on to their convictions.

The main team will start training at the Gabba this weekend after traveling from Perth to Brisbane on Wednesday.

“It’s amateurish if they don’t go”- Michael Vaughan on England refusing to play pink-ball game before day-night Test in Gabba

Only three members of the England men’s Ashes team—Jacob Bethell, Matthew Potts, and Josh Tongue—will play alongside the Lions in the Prime Minister’s XI match in Canberra. The two-day game starts on Saturday.

Potts and Bethell played for the Lions against a Cricket Australia XI in the first test in Perth, which took place concurrently with the Ashes opening, but the three were not employed. Although both games began on Friday, the Lilac Hill match ended up lasting twice as long.

The day-night match would have offered them significant experience ahead of the pink-ball test match at the Gabba, which starts on December 4, in addition to providing them with additional cricket after the initial test lasted only two days. With five losses out of seven, including two during the previous Ashes tour, England’s day-night record is not good.

“It’s amateurish if they don’t go and play now. What harm is playing two days of cricket with a pink ball under lights? It’s not being old-school to suggest that a pink ball is different to a red ball. Playing under the lights is different. Australia have won pretty much every pink-ball game in Australia: they’ve lost once. I’m not too old-school to suggest that they should play in that game… I’d like to know why they wouldn’t,” Michael Vaughan was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

The Lions, along with Bethell, Potts, and Tongue, head to Canberra on Tuesday.

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