Ashes 2025-26: Head’s record ton spoils Day 3 plans for fan who travelled from Germany

The opening Test of the Ashes 2025-26 at Perth was expected to stretch into the weekend, but Travis Head’s record century and England’s collapse led to the contest being ended inside two days, leaving thousands of travelling fans stranded with unused Day 3 tickets. Among them was Alex Earle, who had flown all the way from Germany for what was meant to be a father-son outing built around Sunday’s play.

Bruce and Alex Earle had chosen Day 3 for watching the game, with the former flying in from Sydney, and the latter making the long journey from Germany to Perth. When they landed around lunchtime on Saturday, England were 99 runs ahead with nine wickets in hand. They settled into a pub near Optus Stadium, expecting to relax before their day at the stadium. Instead, they watched the Ashes opener finish on Day 2. By stumps, the pair realised they would never step foot inside the stadium.

“I’ll be heading back to Germany without a ball of Test cricket being seen. We probably spent our refund at the pub last night. We did watch the win, so that was calculated into the number of beers we were buying last night as Heady was batting. To watch Australia win at an Irish pub about five minutes from Optus Stadium, being Sydney boys, was weird. We could see the stadium from the window of the pub," Alex said as quoted by the Brisbane Times.

England suffered a batting collapse within a session as Mitchell Starc claimed his third Test 10-wicket haul and England lost six wickets for 39 runs. Posting 205 to win, Australian opener Usman Khawaja was unavailable due to back spasms, leading to Travis Head being promoted to open. Head hammered a 69-ball century, the second-fastest in Ashes history, dismantling England’s attack with 16 fours and four sixes. His 123 off 83 balls guided Australia to an eight-wicket win in just 28.2 overs.

Notably, more than 40,000 Day 3 ticket holders, including many who had travelled interstate and overseas. 
Cricket Australia is estimated to have lost nearly USD 4 million in ticket revenue due to the early finish, raising concerns about the financial impact of increasingly condensed Tests this summer.