An awesome day is how Marnus Labuschagne described day two and it did have a little bit of everything.

Australia cruising with half-centuries for Jake Weatherald, Labuschagne, and Steve Smith, a couple of quick wickets dragging England back into the game, and all of those dropped catches!

Make sure you read Stephan Shemilt's report from the Gabba here.

Australia lead by 44 runs heading into day three, which we'll be bringing you full coverage of from 3:45 GMT.

In the meantime, there's plenty for you to read on the BBC Sport website, including:

• 'As good as I've ever seen' - where does Jacks' catch rank?
• Smith drop an early blow in tale of two Ashes keepers
• Australia's Hazlewood suffers injury setback

See you on day three! Goodbye!

Michael Vaughan
Former England captain on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Whatever position England get in, this Australian side can take it away from them quickly and move forward with a great deal of pace. That's a real concern for the England team.

BBC iPlayer

You can watch all of the action from day two, plus reaction from the players and analysis from the Test Match Special team, from 5pm each day on BBC iPlayer.

Michael Vaughan
Former England captain on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

I don't think England have got selection wrong, I just look at the bowlers and how they have bowled.

Let's not give them an excuse for why they have bowled so badly. Four seamers is enough. Will Jacks was never going to bowl that many overs this week.

They got selection in the right game and I think they have got selection right here. It is just performance levels.

Going back to Perth, how many of England's 1-11 arrived and put in a performance which is part of their level - not many.

Here, how many of the 11 have played to par? Zak Crawley has played beyond, Joe Root has played beyond, but not many others.

You don't beat Australia with just two players playing above their par. You need six or seven players.

In 2010-11, when England were successful, they had a group of players who were so consistent and that is why they were so competitive.

More from Joe Root on TNT Sports speaking about England's fielding: "It's clear we were not at our best. In phases of the game, the way we dragged things back in the last session in particular, and managed to take those wickets in a cluster, shows what this game can be like especially with a pink ball.

"We have obviously some work to do tomorrow but we are still well and truly in this game. If we get things right in the morning, apply ourselves in the correct fashion in the way we got about things as a team, then we can get ourselves in a strong position on a wicket that looks like it might have a few cracks to work with later on in the game. We have to look at tomorrow morning first and foremost and get that right.

"It is difficult with a pink ball compared to a white ball. I know we play with that in T20 and 50-over cricket but it is slightly different. You still back yourself and we practised really hard. We had five days here to make sure we got our work done. Unfortunately it's one of those days when they didn't quite stick to hand. We just have to make sure we stay confident and when those chances come again we are in a position to take them."

On England bowling short and specifically Brydon Carse: "It felt like the right way to go, and it's about bowling in partnerships. Sometimes changing the rhythm of the game at each end can be beneficial and you can help each other out. It worked really well for Brydon to get those couple of wickets, and I think he executed it really well. That will give him confidence going into the game.

"We have to show positivity tomorrow and we know our best cricket can turn a fixture really quickly. If we turn up with our best then this fixture can very quickly turn in our favour. Then our talent with the bat can go out there and express themselves in the right way to get a big score to leave them batting last on a tricky surface."

Image source, Getty Images

England batter Joe Root, reflecting on his first century in Australia, told TNT Sports: "My century yesterday more than anything was good to get us in a position at the end of the day. Especially to finish off with that partnership [with Jofra Archer] as that was a crucial part of the game. We knew that after the start we had with the bat we'd need some good partnerships and thankfully managed to get something going.

"I tried not to approach anything different than I have done in the past few years. I've got a very clear plan how to score my runs. I have just got to back myself and if I do that and make good decisions I'll be successful.

"Any time you play in Ashes series and contribute that means a huge amount. Clearly very enjoyable, but the most enjoyable thing was getting us from 5-2 to position where we are in the game. I had some fun with Jofra and never batted with him before."

Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne speaking to TNT Sports: "An exciting day of cricket with a lot happening. There were lots of shots, lots of runs, lots of screamers. An awesome day.

"I would liked to have been a bit more resilient with the bat. Getting out for 65 on the stroke of the changeover between day and night not ideal. But the boys did well. Cameron Green came in and Smudge [Steve Smith] batted beautifully and got us to a decent position.

"You just have to think about batting time otherwise you get too far ahead and start thinking reading into a ball which bounced off a crack or hit you. I think you just have to stay in the moment as much as you can.

"You know if you are bowling good balls in the channel, at the Gabba, it's tough to score with the extra bounce. It's a nice wicket. There's cracks here and there but the majority of times it's really nice and so I think the two guys at the top gave us momentum.

"Jake Weatherald was cutting well on fifth stump before Travis Head got going and we were able to piggy back off their momentum."

Michael Vaughan
Former England captain on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

We sound like broken records.

This is what England have decided to do. They have decided to go with no preparation, they decided to go with a game at Lilac Hill. I would have done things completely differently. What I saw today was a team completely jaded.

I'm not the best person to start talking about dropped catches. I dropped a goobie here in 2002.

The only way you get good at taking those chances is concentration. If you have a fielding drill under the lights, you get a catch every other ball.

The art of taking chances is concentration. If you're not out there on a regular basis, and that chance comes, you have to be concentrating to take that opportunity.

The only way you get good at that is by training the brain to do it.

These fielding drills - they're fantastic, but you know the ball is coming to you. In a game, you have no clue when it is coming to you and it is completely different.

You can have five days bowling in the nets and you can bowl beautifully.

But in the nets there are no consequences and no figures. You have no idea what your numbers are in the nets, but in the game you have a consequence.

Srinivas Vijaykumar
CricViz analyst

England have dropped five catches in this innings so far with four of them after the lights were on in the third session.

Across all Ashes Tests in Australia, they've dropped more catches only once (6 drops in Adelaide, 2021) since the start of 2006 where such data has been available.

The four drops in the third session an indicator of England's struggles under lights in day/night Tests.

They've dropped 16 catches in third session at 58% catch efficiency.

England's catching efficiency in day/night Tests

Session 1: 81% (7 drops)

Session 2: 71% (7 drops)

Session 3: 58% (16 drops)

Jack Leach
England spinner, sitting with the BBC Sport live text team

On how Ben Stokes may call out team-mates for mistakes...

Ben Stokes does it in subtle ways, he is always trying to bring the best out of guys. He is not stupid, he knows when he is not seeing the best from the guys.

As a player, you don't need to be told that wasn't good enough. The guys know that - he is very clever at how he gets his message across.

• Travis Head on 3 (Jamie Smith) – Aus 30-0
• Alex Carey on 0 (Ben Duckett) – Aus 291-4
• Josh Inglis on 21 (Ben Duckett) – Aus 327-5
• Michael Neser on 6 (Brydon Carse) – Aus 346-6
• Carey on 25 (Joe Root) – Aus 352-6

Michael Vaughan
Former England captain on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Well, the Bazballers have been Bazballed. I have never seen Australia bat like that.

Australia were gifted a start. Today was so important that England set the tone with the ball in hand, particularly against someone like Travis Head. They bowled so wide and so short to Jake Weatherald, and he played some nice shots.

If you go back to the first Test in Perth - we all praised England with the ball in hand. It was probably as good as I've seen from an England attack.

Today was probably as bad I have seen for a period and then there was a period where they got it right.

The one thing that England have not been able to do all day is have control. Even when they got a wicket, there was always a boundary flying.

Jonathan Agnew
BBC Chief Cricket Commentator on Test Match Special

The way England have come off the field - they look absolutely knackered.

It is hot, but it's not as roasting hot as it can be. It is humid, and it is 29 degrees. Yes, that is warm, but if you're match fit and used to the pressure of the match pressure, you can soak that up.

England have not had a day in the field since they have been here. Stokes has cramp, Archer was bowling with his arm and not with his body. Carse gave everything, he would run through a brick wall, but he dropped that catch.

They came off and they were exhausted.

But while Will Jacks' effort was sublime, the rest of England's catching was not.

In addition to Travis Head, Alex Carey (twice), Josh Inglis, and Michael Neser were all handed lifelines on a disappointing day in the field for Brendon McCullum's side.

And their bowling, on the whole, wasn't great, with Brydon Carse very expensive for his three wickets.

At the end of day two, Carey is unbeaten on 46 (45) while Neser has 15 (30). Their partnership is worth 49 (55).

However, two wickets in four balls from Brydon Carse halted Australia's momentum.

He bowled Cameron Green for 45 (57) before Will Jacks took a screamer to dismiss Steve Smith.

Jofra Archer was involved early on with the ball and should have a wicket in the ninth over when Travis Head edged behind. However, Jamie Smith couldn't hold on, handing him a lifeline on 3 (25), and that swung the momentum in Australia's favour.

Head (33 off 43) put on 77 for the first wicket with Jake Weatherald, who made his maiden Test fifty with a well-constructed 72 (78).

There were also half-centuries for Marnus Labuschagne (65 off 78) and Steve Smith (61 off 85) as Australia looked like they were making serene progress towards a big total.

Right, let's recap the day, shall we?

Cast your minds back to 4am when England were still batting! They resumed on 325-9 but could only add nine runs before a flying Marnus Labuschagne removed Jofra Archer. England all out for 334.

Archer was out for a Test career-high of 38 (36). Joe Root finished unbeaten on 138 (206). Mitchell Starc was the pick of the bowlers, with 6-75.

Phil Tufnell
Former England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

Another energy-sapping day in the field for England.

They got themselves back into it from that double-wicket over from Brydon Carse, and they had the opportunities.

Five dropped catches, you just can't do that at the top level. We have talked about being ruthless and seizing the moment and I'm afraid England slightly dropped it.