Australia bowled England out for 147 after a dramatic start to the first Ashes Test at The Gabba saw Mitchell Starc castle Rory Burns first ball; England skipper Joe Root also fell for a duck while his opposite number Pat Cummins marked his first game as captain with a five-wicket haul
Wednesday 8 December 2021 09:46, UK
Rory Burns bowled first ball, Joe Root gone for a duck and five wickets on his captaincy debut for Pat Cummins as Australia dominated. Here is day one of The Ashes in a nutshell...
Pat Cummins enjoyed a dream start to life as Australia captain as he led from the front with a first Ashes five-for to bowl England out for 147 on day one of the opening Test, writes Sam Drury.
The tone was set with the very first ball of the series as Mitchell Starc pegged back Rory Burns' leg stump and it only got worse for England as they slumped to 11-3 when Josh Hazlewood removed Dawid Malan (6) and then Joe Root for a duck.
Cummins dismissed Ben Stokes (5) to make it 29-4 and while Haseeb Hameed (25), Jos Buttler (39) and Ollie Pope (35) were able to provide some resistance, the last five wickets went down for 35 runs as the tourists' innings was wrapped up on the stroke of tea.
Gloomy overhead conditions and a green-top at The Gabba would have given England hope of hitting back in the evening session but their miserable start to the series was compounded as the rain arrived during the interval and washed out the remainder of the day's play.
What's that? A questionable decision by an England captain at the toss in Brisbane to start an Ashes series? That rings a bell...
Now, to be clear, Root opting to bat first is not in the same realm as Nasser Hussain's infamous call to bowl first all those years ago but even before the tourists found themselves 11-3, it seemed a very bold call.
There were clouds overhead, a green surface under foot and a slightly vulnerable Australian batting line-up to be exposed, that's before you even get started on England's own batting fragilities and the strength of the hosts' bowling attack.
That Cummins conceded he would have batted first as well, had he won the toss, shows it was not quite as straightforward a decision as it might appear in hindsight but, given the state of the game going into day two, England will really have to go some with the ball to avoid it being seen as a costly mistake.
It was also at the toss Root confirmed Stuart Broad would join Jimmy Anderson in sitting out the series opener. It is a huge call but the verdict on that one will have to wait until the start of day two when Messrs Woakes, Robinson and Wood have had their chance to vindicate the decision.
After all the hype that comes before an Ashes series and the excitement that builds in the moments prior to the start of play, the first ball can often be something of an anti-climax - not this time!
Starc came charging in and fired a ball towards Burns' pads, it is the kind of delivery that the England opener would normally welcome, a leg stump half-volley, but on this occasion he got it all wrong. The ball whistled past his front pad and in that split second the left-hander will have known he was in trouble before the subsequent death rattle confirmed his fears.
Australia had the perfect start to the series and for England, it simply proved to be a sign of things to come on a day to forget in Queensland.
Australia captain Pat Cummins, speaking to BT Sport: "It's pretty crazy. It has all gone to plan so far today, with 147 all out getting me up and about the most! I am proud of the guys, it's a really good start and, along with how we bowled, we stayed really composed. It was a great start to the summer."
England batter Ollie Pope, speaking to BT Sport: "We didn't get the score we wanted today. Personally I felt nice out there but it was frustrating not to kick on and get that big score. The game, at that stage, lent itself to some positive batting and Jos (Buttler) came in and took the pressure off nicely. It was frustrating neither of us were able to kick on and get that bigger score to push the team score forward.
"The pitch was quite tennis-bally, there was some steep bounce and some nip as well, so I realised I could leave a lot of balls. That was important for us and I think we will learn from our mistakes."
Sir Alastair Cook, speaking to BT Sport: "Anytime you get bowled out for 140-odd on day one of any series, let alone the Ashes, is not ideal. I don't want to use too many cliches but let's wait a little bit and see what the England bowlers can do. I don't think it is a traditional Gabba wicket - I don't think it's 400 plays 500. There was a lot in that wicket this morning and the moisture around today should still be there tomorrow."
Glenn McGrath, speaking to BT Sport: "They originally said it was going to rain all day tomorrow but that has changed! I think it will be similar today with afternoon showers. The pitch itself hasn't had the sun on it so the pitch isn't going to be too dissimilar to today. It's up to the England bowlers to get the ball in the right area and really build pressure that way. It's not a wicket you are going to blast teams out on and if you go searching for wickets, you can start leaking runs."
