England has taken a 40-run first-innings lead after dismissing Australia for 132 early on the second morning of the Ashes cricket series.

The tourists collapsed to a famous Ashes defeat in the first Test in Perth on Saturday, with a 69-ball century from Travis Head and a catastrophic afternoon batting session – in which England lost four wickets for just 11 runs – helping Australia complete a remarkable turnaround inside two days.

England need to look at themselves and work out why their batters played the shots they did in that miserable second innings capitulation

Ben Stokes has given England a first-innings advantage in the opening Ashes test against Australia. Stokes won the toss Friday but England was skittled for 172 as Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc took a career-best 7-58.

Australia have won 24 out of 31 home Tests against England since 2002. England have not won a single Test on their last three tours of Australia. They have also been at the receiving end of whitewashes in 2006-07 and 2013-14.

So it is vital to be fair. Sky Sports has set a very high bar for live cricket coverage, so its decision to withdraw from the race for overseas rights is a source of massive disappointment for those of us who paid our subscriptions mainly to watch England’s cricketers in action.

Roll up, roll up, it's time for the most breathlessly hyped Ashes since the last one. Australia will take on England over the course of five Tests, the first of which starts on Friday in Perth, with the hosts looking to retain the urn they have held since 2017-18.

Ben Stokes and his England lineup won that test at The Oval in South London but it wasn’t enough to reclaim the Ashes from the Aussies, who won the first two tests and drew the fourth in a five-match series to retain the old urn.

England coach Brendon McCullum has urged fans to keep faith despite a disastrous start to their Ashes campaign, with hosts Australia clinching an eight-wicket win in Perth on the second day of the first test.

Coach Brendon McCullum believes his England team are ready for an Ashes series that could "define" them. England chose not to confirm their XI for the first Test in Perth, instead waiting for the toss on Friday, with the match starting at 02:20 GMT.

The dust is settling on the first Ashes Test in Perth in which England were beaten by Australia. At lunch on day two, the visitors looked to be in control of the Test. By the end of the day, it