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ISLAMABAD: The Ashes Test in Perth has entered the record books as one of the shortest ever played, ending within two days and becoming the briefest Ashes contest on Australian soil in over a hundred years.&nbsp;The match lasted 847 balls, making it the third-shortest Ashes Test in history.&nbsp; The only Tests shorter than this were played during the 1888 Ashes series in England, 788 balls at Old Trafford and 792 balls at Lord&rsquo;s.&nbsp; The previous shortest Ashes Test in Australia was played in 1894-95 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, which lasted 911 balls.&nbsp;England struggled throughout the match, facing just 405 deliveries across two innings, their third-shortest combined effort in a Test where they were bowled out twice. Only the 1904 Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (325 balls) and the 1888 Lord&rsquo;s Test (388 balls) were shorter.&nbsp;Australia completed the chase in dramatic fashion, scoring at 7.23 runs per over, the highest run rate ever recorded in a successful chase of 200 or more in Test history. The hosts needed just 28.2 overs to overhaul the target of 205.&nbsp;The rapid finish, however, has had major financial consequences for Cricket Australia. The match did not extend to the third day, forcing the board to refund all tickets for Days 3 and 4.&nbsp;Initial estimates suggest a loss of at least AUD2 million, with some reports placing the total loss at up to AUD3 million. Broadcasters also suffered reduced revenue due to shorter telecast hours and fewer advertising slots.&nbsp;Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg expressed concern over the financial impact, saying the early finish would affect broadcasters, commercial partners, and overall series revenue. The board was already under pressure after reporting an $11.3 million deficit last year.&nbsp;The abrupt end to the Perth Test has added to Cricket Australia&rsquo;s mounting financial challenges, with analysts warning of further strain on the domestic cricket market. <h2 id="isPasted" style="line-height: 2;">List of men&#39;s Test matches to finish in two days</h2>The Perth Test is one of the shortest Test matches in the world. Below is the list of Test matches that concluded within two days:<div class="fr-embed">&nbsp;<table class="cricket-table"><thead><tr><th>Date</th><th>Match Summary</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Aug. 28, 1882</td><td>Australia 63 (Barlow 5-19) &amp; 122 (Massie 55) beat England 101 (Spofforth 7-46) &amp; 77 (Spofforth 7-44) by 7 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Jul. 16, 1888</td><td>Australia 116 (Peel 4-36) &amp; 60 (Peel 4-14) beat England 53 (Turner 5-27) &amp; 62 (Ferris 5-26) by 61 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Aug. 13, 1888</td><td>Australia 80 (Briggs 5-25) &amp; 100 (Barnes 5-32) lost to England 317 (Abel 70) by an innings and 137 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Aug. 30, 1888</td><td>England 172 (Turner 5-86) beat Australia 81 (Peel 7-31) &amp; 70 (Peel 4-37) by an innings and 21 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Mar. 12, 1889</td><td>South Africa 84 (Smith 5-19) &amp; 129 (Fothergill 4-19) lost to England 148 (Rose-Innes 5-43) &amp; 67-2 (Abel 23*) by 8 wickets</td></tr><tr><td>Mar. 25, 1889</td><td>England 292 (Abel 120) beat South Africa 47 (Briggs 7-17) &amp; 43 (Briggs 8-11) by an innings and 202 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Aug. 11, 1890</td><td>Australia 92 (Martin 6-50) &amp; 102 (Martin 6-52) lost to England 100 (Ferris 4-25) &amp; 95-8 (Read 35) by 2 wickets</td></tr><tr><td>Feb. 13, 1896</td><td>England 185 (Middleton 5-64) &amp; 226 (Woods 53) beat South Africa 93 (Lohmann 7-38) &amp; 30 (Lohmann 8-7) by 288 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Mar. 21, 1896</td><td>South Africa 115 (Lohmann 7-42) &amp; 117 (Hill 4-8) lost to England 265 (Hill 124) by an innings and 33 runs</td></tr><tr><td>May 27, 1912</td><td>Australia 448 (Bardsley 121) beat South Africa 265 (Faulkner 122*) &amp; 95 (Kelleway 5-33) by an innings and 88 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Aug. 12, 1912</td><td>South Africa 95 (Barnes 5-28) &amp; 93 (Barnes 8-29) lost to England 176 (Hobbs 68) &amp; 14-0 (Hobbs 9*) by 10 wickets</td></tr><tr><td>May 28, 1921</td><td>England 112 (Gregory 6-58) &amp; 147 (McDonald 5-32) lost to Australia 232 (Bardsley 66) &amp; 30-0 (Macartney 22*) by 10 wickets</td></tr><tr><td>Feb. 13, 1931</td><td>West Indies 99 (Ironmonger 7-23) &amp; 107 (Fairfax 4-31) lost to Australia 328-8d (Bradman 152) by an innings and 122 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Feb. 15, 1936</td><td>South Africa 157 (O&#39;Reilly 5-20) &amp; 98 (Grimmett 7-40) lost to Australia 439 (Fingleton 108) by an innings and 84 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Mar. 29, 1946</td><td>New Zealand 42 (O&#39;Reilly 5-14) &amp; 54 (O&#39;Reilly 3-19) lost to Australia 199-8d (Barnes 54) by an innings and 103 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Aug. 17, 2000</td><td>West Indies 172 (White 5-57) &amp; 61 (Caddick 5-14) lost to England 272 (Vaughan 76) by an innings and 39 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Oct. 11, 2002</td><td>Pakistan 59 (Warne 4-11) &amp; 53 (Warne 4-13) lost to Australia 310 (Hayden 119) by an innings and 198 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Mar. 4, 2005</td><td>Zimbabwe 54 (Kallis 4-13) &amp; 265 (Ebrahim 72) lost to South Africa 340-3d (Smith 121) by an innings and 21 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Aug. 7, 2005</td><td>New Zealand 452-9d (Vettori 127) beat Zimbabwe 59 (Franklin 3-11) &amp; 99 (Vettori 4-28) by an innings and 294 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Dec. 26, 2017</td><td>South Africa 309-9d (Markram 125) beat Zimbabwe 68 (Morkel 5-21) &amp; 121 (Maharaj 5-29) by an innings and 120 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Jun. 14, 2018</td><td>India 474 (Dhawan 107) beat Afghanistan 109 (Ashwin 4-27) &amp; 103 (Jadeja 4-17) by an innings and 262 runs</td></tr><tr><td>Feb. 24, 2021</td><td>England 112 (Patel 6-38) &amp; 81 (Patel 5-32) lost to India 145 (Root 5-8) &amp; 49-0 (Sharma 25*) by 10 wickets</td></tr><tr><td>Mar. 2, 2021</td><td>Afghanistan 131 (Muzarabani 4-48) &amp; 135 (Zadran 76) lost to Zimbabwe 250 (Williams 105) &amp; 17-0 (Kasuza 11*) by 10 wickets</td></tr><tr><td>Dec. 17, 2022</td><td>South Africa 152 (Verreynne 64) &amp; 99 (Cummins 5-42) lost to Australia 218 (Head 92) &amp; 35-4 (Rabada 4-13) by 6 wickets</td></tr><tr><td>Jan. 3, 2024</td><td>South Africa 55 (Siraj 6-15) &amp; 176 (Markram 106) lost to India 153 (Kohli 46) &amp; 80-3 (Jaiswal 28) by 7 wickets</td></tr><tr><td>Nov. 21, 2025</td><td>England 172 (Brook, Starc 7-58) &amp; 164 (Boland 4-33) lost to Australia 132 (Stokes 5-23) &amp; 205-2 (Head 123) by 8 wickets</td></tr></tbody></table></div> Stats: Wisden Cricket

Cricket

The match lasted only 847 balls, making it the third-shortest Ashes Test in history.

Perth Test becomes shortest Ashes match on Australian soil in more than 100 years

PERTH: Makeshift opener Travis Head smacked an explosive 69-ball century to power Australia to victory in a high-octane first Ashes Test on Saturday as England meekly surrendered in the Perth Stadium cauldron. Chasing 205 to win, Head slammed 123 as the hosts romped home on day two by eight wickets in an electric start to the five-match series. Marnus Labuschagne was not-out 51 and Steve Smith on two. &quot;Wow, what a couple of days. It&#39;s been unbelievable,&quot; said Head. &quot;The emotions are pretty high. &quot;They (England) were seriously good out there yesterday and started to drag it back, so we knew we couldn&#39;t afford to let the game slip. To be able to contribute the way I did, it feels pretty special.&quot; Head&#39;s heroics came on the back of a blistering spell from marauding pace pair Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc after lunch that sparked a stunning England collapse. The tourists were cruising at 65-1 and building an ominous second-innings lead, but Boland and Starc left them reeling with four wickets in as many overs. A ruthless Boland accounted for Ben Duckett (28), Ollie Pope (33) and Harry Brook (0) in the space of 11 balls, then two deliveries later Starc sent Joe Root packing for eight. When Starc removed skipper Ben Stokes (2), England were flailing at 88-6 and the veteran paceman had bagged a 10-wicket haul for only the third time after his first innings 7-58, a career-best. England were partially rescued by a crucial 50-run stand between Gus Atkinson (37) and Brydon Carse (20) before being rolled for 164 at tea. &quot;Little bit shell-shocked there,&quot; said Stokes. &quot;Travis Head was phenomenal, jeez that was some knock. &quot;We tried 3-4 different plans there, he was going like a train. The runs were coming through quickly, he is really hard to stop when he plays like that.&quot; When they returned, Usman Khawaja again failed to show as opener as he battles back stiffness, with Australia signaling their intent by sending in Head. Head, who has opened nine times previously in Test cricket, quickly got into his destructive rhythm, crunching some lovely boundaries including big sixes off Carse and Mark Wood. He made it look easy, making a mockery of the struggles other batsmen had on the bouncy track, bringing up his half-century in 36 balls, passing 4,000 Test runs in the process. Looking to emulate him, debutant Jake Weatherald also went on the attack, but it cost him, out for 23 after a mistimed pull shot was taken by Ben Duckett off Carse. An unruffled Head kept the pressure on, slamming four boundaries in one Stokes over and sending a six back over the head of Jofra Archer on his way to a 10th Test ton. He eventually fell to Carse going for another big hit. Starc starsAustralia resumed on a paltry 123-9 in their first innings and added just nine before Nathan Lyon was removed by Carse for four to leave England with a 40-run advantage. Stokes was the star of the show, claiming 5-23 off just 36 balls to give England a golden opportunity to win a Test in Australia for the first time since the 2010-11 series. They had been all out for 172 at the hands of Starc on day one. Australia were banking on the 35-year-old to emulate his exploits in the second innings and he whipped the sold-out Perth Stadium crowd into a frenzy when he removed Zak Crawley in his first over. The veteran consigned Crawley to a pair, diving to his left in an incredible feat of athleticism for a memorable caught-and-bowled. Duckett and Pope settled in, safely reaching lunch at 59-1. But Scott Boland began to find his radar when they returned. Duckett edged to Steve Smith in the slips then Pope did the same to wicketkeeper Alex Carey before Brook repeated the feat to Khawaja. After a first innings duck Joe Root was desperate for runs, but he was no match for the relentless Starc, dragging a thick edge onto his stumps to cap a miserable start to the series. Brendan Doggett then cleaned up Jamie Smith, (15), Carse and Archer (5).

Head's 69-ball ton powers Australia to victory in Ashes opener

SYDNEY: Pat Cummins has conceded he&#39;s a doubtful starter for Australia&#39;s Ashes series opener against England in Perth next month.&nbsp;&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t put a percentage on it, but I&rsquo;d say probably less likely than likely,&rdquo; the pace bowler told domestic media Monday. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve still got a bit of time.&rdquo;&nbsp;The Australia captain has been sidelined for three months with a back stress injury, and speculation has mounted in recent weeks that he&#39;d miss at least the first test, and likely more, of the biggest test cricket series on the 2025 calendar.&nbsp;Cummins said he&#39;s back into physical training and &quot;each session feels better and better.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;We get into slight bowling prep, I think next week,&quot; he said. &quot;I&rsquo;m probably a couple of weeks away before I actually put on these spikes and bowl on the turf.&quot;&nbsp;The five-test series starts Nov. 21 in Perth, followed by a day-night test in Brisbane from Dec. 4, before the series moves to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.&nbsp;The 32-year-old Cummins has not bowled since Australia&#39;s 3-0 series sweep of the West Indies in the Caribbean in July.&nbsp;&ldquo;The immediate goal is to make sure I&rsquo;m giving myself a chance to be right for as much of (the series) as possible,&rdquo; Cummins said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s really too early to kind of make some big decisions.&nbsp;&ldquo;With these things, it&rsquo;s pretty hard to go from not bowling or anything at all to suddenly playing five tests. The first step is trying to give us a shot at being (fit), and then we&rsquo;ll work it out a bit closer.&rdquo;&nbsp;Cummins said he wasn&#39;t in serious pain and was trying to increase his workload.&nbsp;&ldquo;A few of the symptoms hung around for a little bit longer than I would have liked,&quot; he said, &ldquo;but they&rsquo;re all gone now.&rdquo;&nbsp;If Cummins is ruled out, Scott Boland is likely to take his place in the pace attack that should include Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.&nbsp;Australia&#39;s white ball squad is preparing for a series of one-day and Twenty20 internationals against India starting Oct. 19.

Cummins says he's back into physical training and "each session feels better and better.”

Articles tagged with "Ashes series"

Perth Test becomes shortest Ashes match on Australian soil in more than 100 years

Head's 69-ball ton powers Australia to victory in Ashes opener

Pat Cummins is doubtful for Ashes series opener against England