No Pat Cummins. No Josh Hazlewood. No problem, said Mitchell Starc as he looked to almost single-handedly steamroll half of England’s batting lineup on day 1 of the Ashes 2025-26 1st Test in Perth.
While England batsmen played their strokes as if they were unaware that Australia were playing a second-string attack, Starc stepped up with the ball in the absence of Cummins and Hazlewood. The visitors certainly conceded ground in the first session and half by not being suspect against Starc in his first spell of the morning and the spell right after lunch.
Joe Root got a terrific delivery from the left-armer, but Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes lost their wickets to loose drives. Crawley edged a back of length, rising delivery outside the off-stump amid his drive on the up, whereas Stokes was bamboozled through the huge bat-pad gap he left while looking to drive down the ground.
Credit to Starc for setting up the England captain with three consecutive length balls outside the off-stump that Stokes shouldered his arms to, before attacking the stumps by hurling a full, inswinging delivery that invited Stokes for the drive.
The English skipper obliged, but as the ball moved into him, he played down the wrong line. The red cherry clattered into Stokes’ off-stump with the batsman falling over, leaving an expression of stunned, which he usually does upon getting bowled.
Starc ran on a fiery, ecstatic celebratory run, as Stokes mulled his shot selection and probably even blamed the surface a bit on which he elected to bat first after winning the toss.
Ashes 2025-26 1st Test: [Video] Mitchell Starc’s Rocket Cleans Up Ben Stokes’ Off-Stump
How many times has Mitchell Starc dismissed Ben Stokes in Test cricket?
Starc has taken the wicket of Stokes 10 times in 22 innings in Test cricket so far, until England’s first innings on day 1 of the Perth Test. And five of these 10 dismissals have been bowled. Stokes averages 19 against Starc in Tests.
At the time of writing, England are 115/5 after Stokes’ wicket.
Ashes 2025-26 AUS vs ENG 1st Test Playing XIs:
Australia: Marnus Labuschagne, Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (c), Mitchell Starc, Alex Carey(wk), Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
England: Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith(wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood
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