England's Ashes Hopes Crumble in Perth Catastrophe
The Ashes series began in devastating fashion for England as they were bowled out for just 172 on the opening day at Perth's Optus Stadium. Despite winning what appeared to be a crucial toss, Ben Stokes' decision to bat first backfired spectacularly against an Australian attack led by the magnificent Mitchell Starc.
Starc's Opening Spell Decimates Top Order
The carnage began immediately when Mitchell Starc, operating with fearsome pace and precision, produced one of the great Ashes bowling performances. Zak Crawley fell for a golden duck on the final delivery of the very first over, setting the tone for England's nightmare session. Ben Duckett followed shortly after as Starc tore through the top order.
The biggest blow came when Joe Root was dismissed for a duck, edging behind to Marnus Labuschagne without adding to the score. This extended Root's long wait for a Test century on Australian soil and left England reeling at three wickets down with barely any runs on the board.
Brief Resistance Overcome After Lunch
Ollie Pope provided the only substantial resistance for the tourists, compiling a determined 46 runs before falling LBW to Cameron Green moments before lunch. This left England at 105-4 at the interval, already facing an uphill battle to post a competitive total.
The situation deteriorated further immediately after the break when captain Ben Stokes lost his off-stump to Starc, giving the Australian paceman his fourth wicket and reducing England to 117-5. Harry Brook offered some late fight with a valuable 52, but the damage had been done.
England's innings concluded in the second session, bundled out for 172 with Starc finishing with remarkable figures of 7 wickets for 58 runs, reaching the milestone of 100 career Ashes wickets during his destructive spell.
Australian Advantage Despite Missing Stars
What made England's collapse more concerning was that Australia achieved this dominance without their regular captain Pat Cummins and frontline bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott, all sidelined through injury. Steve Smith took over captaincy duties amidst controversy following his public disagreement with Monty Panesar in the build-up to the match.
As the teams headed for the lunch break on day one, Australia had firmly established control of the first Test, leaving England with a mountain to climb to salvage their Ashes campaign after a disastrous start down under.
