Key events
4th over: Australia 0-1 (Labuschagne 0, Smith 0) Labuschagne bat-pads Atkinson on the bounce to Pope at short leg. He’s leaving on length as much as possible but looks tentative when Atkinson draws him forward.
As I type that, Atkinson is squared up by a good one that zips past the edge. He can maybe afford to go a bit fuller – but then England are building pressure by joining the dot balls. In fact they’re joining the maidens: that’s four in a row to start the innings. They’ve beaten the bat at least eight times in those four overs, possibly more. I knew I should have brought my abacus.
3rd over: Australia 0-1 (Labuschagne 0, Smith 0) Smith has an almighty wipe at a very wide ball from Archer, making contact only with the still Perth air. That’s the sixth play-and-miss in the first 15 balls to go with the wicket of Weatherald.
Another maiden from Archer, not quite as menacing as the first but still extremely encouraging for England. Australia just need to get through this spell because life will get easier.
“However the rest of this Test goes, I think it’s pretty clear that England are going to win the run-rate battle,” writes Thomas Jenkins. “Who cares about the war when you can win the battle?”
2nd over: Australia 0-1 (Labuschagne 0, Smith 0) All that talk about why Marnus Labuschagne had to bat No3 and here he is opening on day one of the series. He leaves the second ball from Gus Atkinson, which zips over the top of off stump. Plenty of excitement behind the stumps but it was a safe leave on length, something Labuschagne does so well in Australia.
He’s beaten by a cracker next ball, pushing tentatively at a fuller one that whooshes past off stump, and then plays and misses at an even better delivery that snarls off the seam. England’s bowlers have started with ferocious purpose.
“Is this the one-day Ashes?” asks Sandy C. “Just tuned in after a long day here on the west coast and England have already ‘completed’ their first innings?! What?! I initially thought the match had been delayed upon seeing the small number of overs bowled – but oh wow, England were a little too keen to get back to the dressing room! Hoping Australia can close the gap in the next four hours which is as long as I can be awake.”
1st over: Australia 0-1 (Labuschagne 0, Smith 0) Smith is beaten twice in the first four balls, once on either side of the bat. A storming start from Archer, who gets a pat on the back from almost every England player at the end of a wicket maiden.
WICKET! Australia 0-1 (Weatherald LBW b Archer 0)
Jofra Archer strikes second ball! He eats left-handers for breakfast, lunch and tea. Weatherald fell over a full, straight delivery and was sent flying when the ball hit the pad. What a start.
Steve Smith is the new batter. He and Jofra have met before.
This looks really close…
England review for LBW! Jofra Archer starts the innings with an excellent delivery that beats a nervous, crooked poke from Weatherald. Archer has such a good record against left-handers – and he thinks he’s got another when Weatherald is knocked off his feet by a full delivery that hits him on the pad.
It’s given not out but Ben Stokes goes upstairs. I think it pitched outside leg. If not, Weatherald is toast.
The debutant Jake Weatherald walks out to bat alongside the stand-in opener Marnus Labuschagne. As Martin said, Usman Khawaja was off the field for too long during the England innings so he will bat later in the day.
India were bowled out for 150 on day one of last year’s Perth Test and went on to win by 295 runs. But that pitch was more moist, much tougher for batting on day one – and Jasprit Bumrah bowled one of the greatest spells of the 21st century. England need something Bumrah-adjacent, probably from Jofra Archer.
Thanks Martin, hello everyone. If anyone can explain what we’ve just watched, I’m all ears. England scored at 5.23 per over – the third fastest completed innings in Ashes history – yet they didn’t even reach 200. The main reason was a career-best performance from Mitchell Starc, who took 7 for 58 and made hamburger out of England’s much hyped batting line-up. In the circumstances, particularly the absence of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, it was a staggering display.
England have paid a huge price for some outlandish batting but Mitchell Starc deserves all the credit that comes his way. The left-armer finishes with his best figures in a Test innings with seven for 58. And on that note, let’s all take a moment to catch our breath as Rob Smyth prepares to take the new ball for Australia’s innings.
Usman Khawaja spent quite a bit of time off the field during the England innings – and with a collapse of five wickets in three overs the veteran will not be able to open for Australia. After all the conjecture over Marnus Labuschagne’s role in the batting lineup, in the in-form, designated No 3 will presumably now open alongside debutant Jake Weatherald.
England all out for 172
Mitchell Starc finishes with seven for 58 – and will begin the second innings on a hat-trick – as Mark Wood swipes at a short ball and skies a top edge for Alex Carey to claim with the gloves. Perhaps harsh on a No 11, but that sums up the England collapse of five for 12.
WICKET! Smith c Green b Starc 33 (England 172-9)
England’s hopes of putting together a competitive total now rest with Jamie Smith but the keeper-batter can’t resist a shorter ball from Mitchell Starc and is caught at deep midwicket. Common sense appears to have been checked-in at Heathrow and lost somewhere in transit. Starc has six for 58.
32nd over: England 168-8 (Smith 29, Archer 0) Oh, my! Brydon Carse cops a bouncer smack bang on the grille. It barely moves him, on the outside at least, but that is enough to shake any batter. A quick check and Carse is back into action. But Brendan Doggett has shown that he has a mean shorter ball and the right-hander is caught on the boundary a few balls later with a frankly ridiculous attempt to respond.
WICKET! Carse c Labuschagne b Doggett 6 (England 168-8)
Brydon Carse is crunched by a bouncer that he sees too late, then hoicks a shorter ball later in the over straight down Marnus Labuschagne’s throat at backward square. It’s a good catch on the move from Labuschagne, but a silly shot to begin with.
31st over: England 167-7 (Smith 28, Carse 6) Australia have been able to strike whenever England look like working their way back into the game. That’s Starc’s fifth five-wicket haul in the Ashes. Brydon Carse shows more intent with a boundary at third man but a swing and a miss is more in keeping with the times as Starc returns to his familiar line just outside off.
WICKET! Atkinson c Smith b Starc 1 (England 161-7)
Mitchell Starc has a five-for. Gus Atkinson dabbles outside his off-stump with no real intent. The nick carries to Steve Smith at second slip and the left-armer has England in all sorts.
30th over: England 161-6 (Smith 28, Atkinson 1) Brendon Doggett makes his mark in just his sixth over in Tests with the critical wicket of Harry Brook. The Brook-Smith partnership ends on 45 runs from 30 balls. Steve Smith sends a bat pad in for the final delivery to Gus Atkinson as Australia smell blood only 30 overs into the series.
WICKET! Brook c Carey b Doggett 52 (England 160-6)
Brendan Doggett has his first Test wicket and what a time to grab it. Brook swings half-heartedly at a shorter ball down the legside, there is a noise on the way through and Carey and Smith are especially keen to review the decision. Doggett is less certain but is hardly going to argue. Brook makes his way from the field before the inevitable arrives and Australia have the wicket they surely wanted most.
29th over: England 152-5 (Brook 50, Smith 22) Smith’s turn to crunch back-to-back boundaries as he initially punishes a tiring Starc for bowling too full. The left-armer overcorrects and Smith pulls him to the backward square boundary. Harry Brook brings up his half-century from 58 deliveries with one six and five boundaries, before Smith finishes the over with another boundary. Boland dives to – unsuccessfully – prevent the ball reaching the rope at fine leg, but hits the turf heavily and is forced to hobble off the field. 14 runs from the over.
28th over: England 138-5 (Brook 49, Smith 9) Jamie Smith is the latest England batter to take a fancy to Scott Boland’s bowling with an unconventional straight drive that rockets to the rope. Brook ends the over with four – all run – as he again steps back and unleashes a drive through cover but the ball rests a few centimetres from the boundary.
27th over: England 129-5 (Brook 45, Smith 4) Back-to-back boundaries for Brook who is the only England batter yet to be troubled by Starc. The swashbuckling right-hander clips off his hip for four to fine leg then hammers a straight drive back past the bowler.
26th over: England 121-5 (Brook 37, Smith 4) REVIEW! Boland angles the ball into right-hander Jamie Smith who is yet to trouble the scorers. The Australia quick and captain Smith are reluctant to review but with England five down, they roll the dice and send the decision upstairs. Ball tracking shows that the delivery was doing too much and missing leg stump, as Australia waste a review. Smith gets off the mark by guiding the ball through the cordon for four. (Thanks to Stephen Hodson for the reminder that England didn’t waste their earlier reviews that went with “umpire’s call”).
25th over: England 115-5 (Brook 36, Smith 0) A Mitchell Starc masterclass puts England on the ropes. The left-armer chips away back of a length just outside Stokes’ off-stump before throwing in an inswinger that has the England skipper misreading the line.
WICKET! Stokes b Starc 6 (England 115-5)
Mitchell Starc strikes again and the England captain is on his way. A straighter ball from around the wicket, scrambled seam but nothing out of the ordinary, as Stokes plays around it and is clean bowled through the gate. A horror shot, really.
24th over: England 113-4 (Brook 36, Stokes 4) SIX! Harry Brook does the timewarp with a jump to his left, a step back and to the right to give himself room, and a lofted but controlled drive over cover. It inevitably looks like a dangerous shot as Brook’s stumps are exposed, but he has the eye to pull it off. If England’s plan to attack Boland is genuine, it has paid off so far – the Australia quick has 0 for 47 from eight overs.
The players are back on the field at Perth Stadium for the second session. Scott Boland marks out his run with Harry Brook taking the two-centres – not that he seems to worry about it much from there. Here we go …
A hundred runs in a session is below par for the modern-day England as they reach 105-4 at the first break on day one in Perth. But Australia have only managed to bowl 23 overs in their two hours, leaving the tourists with a more familiar run-rate of 4.56.
Australia had the better of the first session with Mitchell Starc running riot. But reputations appear not to interest Harry Brook, let alone what he sees from the non-striker’s end or the stands. And we all know Ben Stokes will relish the opportunity to lift England up off the turf and to a competitive total after making the out-of-character call at the toss to bat first at Perth Stadium.
Ali Martin considered, before a ball was bowled in these Ashes, what could well be Stokes’ denouement on Australian soil.
Watching Ben Stokes go about his work remains a sight to behold, no stone left unturned and a high bar set for the squad at large. He was last to leave the lanes on Monday, his only real inconvenience being an eye-watering blow to the box from Josh Hull [the left-armer part of the Lions tour but roped in to replicate Mitchell Starc’s angle].
A couple of weeks ago David Warner was naturally asked about the potential for sledging during this Ashes series and, while he expected the odd flare‑up, the former opener warned against aiming any jibes at Stokes. “If we can sort of not poke that bear and get him up and about, I think that will help the Australians enormously,” Warner said.
Brian Withington is still lapping up Mitchell Starc’s opening over – and, I’d hope, his entire spell – while writing headlines for Fleet Street to consider running in the UK morning. “Starc starts series shabbily but successfully with sixth ball scrambled seam shocker!”
Mixed emotions feeding through.
“England, overconfident and underprepared,” Peter Morris from Brisbane says. “If the MCC has a procedure manual for touring Australia, I suspect Andrew Strauss was the last person to read it.”
Alex Thomas has just woken up in Almaty, Kazakhstan and has picked up the pace of the ball immediately: “Why did England choose to bat first in this green top? Was this to negate the threat of Nathan Lyon in the fourth innings of the pitch breaks up?”
Lunch: England 105-4
Well, that lived up to the hype! Mitchell Starc (three for 24) ripped through England’s top order with Zak Crawley setting the tone with a loose drive in the opening over, Ben Duckett trapped in front, and Joe Root squared up and caught off an edge for a duck. Ollie Pope (46) led the rearguard before missing an inswinger from Cameron Green and wasting a review for lbw, but with the ever-audacious Harry Brook (28no) and captain Ben Stokes (4no) still at the crease there are likely plenty of twists and turns to come.
23rd over: England 105-4 (Brook 28, Stokes 4) CRACK! Brook charges Starc again from the first ball of the over and smacks the left-armer to the rope at long-off. The shot of the day welcomes the last over before lunch. Stokes picks up a couple more with a straight drive as England move into three figures but with four wickets already down.
22nd over: England 98-4 (Brook 23, Stokes 2) Nathan Lyon replaces Cameron Green immediately after the all-rounder takes a wicket. Strange call. Ben Stokes gets off the mark with an all-too easy single with a nudge towards a vast gap at cover. Brook eases the off-spinner off his pads for a pair of singles.
21st over: England 94-4 (Brook 21, Stokes 0) Starc has already taken three wickets in six overs and the lunch break is within sight. Yet Brook charges the left-armer, steps back to give himself room and looks to uppercut the ball over point or whoknowswhere. The No 5 is fortunate to only barely be beaten by the bounce. Where is the balance between playing a natural game and simple game sense? A maiden over.
Mitchell Starc returned for the start of Cameron Green’s over and is ready to take the cherry as Australia – and captain Steve Smith – go for the jugular with Ben Stokes joining Harry Brook at the crease. Another wicket before lunch would have the hosts well and truly on top.
WICKET! Pope lbw b Green 46 (England 94-4)
Cameron Green breaks through in his opening over – and first in a Test for more than 18 months – when trapping Ollie Pope in front. The ball swings into and across the right-hander, straightens up just enough, and crashes into the pads. Pope reluctantly reviews, there is no signs of bat on ball, and the decision goes to umpire’s call for hitting leg stump.
20th over: England 94-4 (Brook 21, Stokes 0)
19th over: England 84-3 (Pope 38, Brook 19) Nathan Lyon comes on for his first over since being left out of Australia’s last Test in the Caribbean. After a sighter for Brook, the No 5 and Pope work Lyon around the field with a single, single, two, single, single on the offside. Easy runs!
18th over: England 78-3 (Pope 36, Brook 15) Mitchell Starc has removed himself from the action after stumbling while fielding a ball in the previous over and appearing to roll his left ankle. He grabbed at his lower leg straight away. One run from the Doggett over as Brook clips a straight ball to square leg.
17th over: England 77-3 (Pope 36, Brook 14) A tighter and quieter over from Scott Boland to Harry Brook with only a no-ball added to England’s score. That’s until the last ball when Brook sets off for a quick single, Marnus Labuschagne pounces and the No 5 has to dive back into his crease. A single is added as the throw edges past the stumps but that was a close call.
16th over: England 75-3 (Pope 36, Brook 13) Doggett continues and the England pair look comfortable with the pace dropping closer to 130km/h. Four singles from the over as the Australia field begins to spread with the run-rate beyond 4.5.
15th over: England 71-3 (Pope 34, Brook 12) High risk, high reward from Harry Brook as the powerful No 5 looks to attack Scott Boland. Brook counts his blessings as an outrageous swing and a miss fails to connect with a ball outside offstump, then pulls out a classic straight drive to the rope.
14th over: England 66-3 (Pope 33, Brook 8) Doggett begins by bending Pope over with a delivery that nips off the seam and back into the right-hander. The England No 3 responds by punishing a fuller delivery with a clip off the pads past mid-on for four, and adds three more with a mis-timed square cut through point. Pope is going at a strike-rate above 75 with little effort.
13th over: England 59-3 (Pope 26, Brook 8) An Indigenous Australian bowls from each end for the first time in Tests as Scott Boland replaces Mitchell Starc. After an untidy opening spell the Victorian is back on the money from the opposite end – he has a remarkably better average bowling as first change rather than when taking the new ball. Ollie Pope takes one step forward and punches a straight drive back past the bowler for three runs. And while Starc has a breather, here is the wicket that become his third of the day and 100th in the Ashes.
12th over: England 56-3 (Pope 23, Brook 8) Brendan Doggett continues but without quite the same fire that accompanied his first over in international cricket. Harry Brook has quickly made his intentions clear despite England being on the ropes with three wickets down, and ends the over by dancing around the crease to give himself room and caressing a boundary through point.
Martin Pegan
Thank you Jonathan. And thank you to the Ashes for an hour of high drama that more than lived up to the hype. The fine wine of fast bowling that Mitchell Starc has become ripped through England’s top order with 3 for 17 from six overs, while Australia have been reminded of the gulf in class between the members of their usual “Big Three” and the next tier. But Brendan Doggett sent down a lively first over, and with drinks now consumed, takes the ball again.
Jonathan Howcroft
11th over: England 50-3 (Pope 22, Brook 3) Lol. Harry Brook’s second delivery: skipping down the pitch and out to the legside to give himself room to slash a mistimed drive for three through the covers… against the triple-wicket rockets of Mitchell Starc… with England 43-3. Starc is wider to Pope, who is in turn more circumspect, until the line is straight enough to uppercut over the slips for four. England delivering on all metrics so far.
And that’s drinks. Time for me to hand the reins back to Martin Pegan. Thank you for your company, I’ll see you again during the series.
10th over: England 43-3 (Pope 18, Brook 0) Excellent start from Doggett, finding a line and length from the outset, getting a hint of movement in off the pitch, drawing Pope off his length and testing the inside edge. One wayward delivery clips the pads on its way to the fine-leg fence, but that’s a promising start nonetheless.
First bowling change of the series with debutant Doggett replacing the ineffective Boland… and his opening delivery is almost a wicket! Right-arm over to Pope, perfect line and length, drawing the batter forward, ducking inside the gate and grazing the bails as it hurries through to Carey.
9th over: England 39-3 (Pope 18, Brook 0) No Cummins, no Hazlewood, no problem. Mitchell Starc: five overs 3/10.
