Ashes 2025-26: ‘I’m sorry, but that’s a shocking look’ – Hayden criticises Jofra Archer for carrying a pillow to the Gabba in 2nd Test

Matthew Hayden didn’t mince his words while criticising Jofra Archer after the England pacer was spotted on camera, carrying a pillow into The Gabba in Brisbane on Day 3 of the second Ashes Test against Australia on Saturday, December 6.

The former Australian opener said that it looked quite shocking and urged the batters to capitalise on the unenthusiastic approach.

The Three Lions conceded a lead of 177 runs in the first innings, with Archer conceding 87 runs in 25 overs and picking up the solitary wicket of opener Jake Weatherald.

“I’m sorry, but that’s a shocking look. If I were a batsman, I tell you what I’d be doing, I’d be digging in. Forever. It would be exactly what you need as a batsman, I can tell you. You’d be looking over and thinking, ‘you are never going to sleep on that’,” Hayden told Channel 7.

“Not any part of this day are you going to see that. Not even in the night are you going to see that,” he added.

I would have done things completely differently: Michael Vaughan

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan also lambasted England’s attitude on the field on Day 3, admitting that they looked “jaded” as a team in the middle.

“I would have done things completely differently. What I saw today was a team that looked jaded. 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. The art of taking chances is concentration. If you’re not out there on a regular basis practising for many hours, when 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,” he said.

England finished Day 3 at 134/6. They need another 43 runs to make Australia bat for the second time in the Test match. Mitchell Starc, Michael Neser, and Scott Boland have picked up two wickets apiece.