England captain Joe Root won the toss, opted to bat and lost the first ball of the Ashes series to opener Rory Burns, a late swing yorker from Australia pacer Mitchell Starc.
It set the tone for the opening two sessions on Wednesday, which were open seasons for Australia’s fast bowling pack.
Pat Cummins took the last three wickets and took five wickets in his first innings as Australia captain. England’s innings ended with thunder and lightning that began to the west and south of the Gabba.
Heavy rain and poor lighting combined to prevent any play on the first day.
Following Starc’s opening strike, Josh Hazlewood dismissed David Malan (6) and Root (0), leaving England 11-3 in the sixth over.
When Cummins took his first wicket – star all-rounder Ben Stokes (5) caught low at third slip by Marnus Labuschagne four balls after the first drink break – England were trailing 29-4.
Opener Haseeb Hameed deflected the attack and helped England 59-4 at lunch, but was dismissed for 25 at the start of the second session when he edged a delivery from Cummins that went off the seam. And was caught by Steve Smith at second slip.
Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler settled the innings, sharing a 50-run stand to stem the flow of wickets before both were dismissed in the 30s.
Buttler played an expansive drive to reach 39 for his fifth boundary, but was dismissed by Starc on the next ball, leaving Alex Carey behind as England rolled to 112-6. England added six runs before Pope (35) hooked in an attempt and was caught diving near the fine leg boundary by Hazlewood, giving all-rounder Cameron Green his maiden Test wicket.
Cummins caught Ollie Robinson (0) behind and caught Mark Wood (8) at short leg and the stadium lights were on before Chris Woakes (21) was caught in the deep by Hazlewood to end the innings Went.
Cummins scored 5-38 in 13.1 overs, with Starc and Hazlewood taking two wickets each.
It turns out, it was a good toss for Cummins to lose in his first Test since replacing Tim Paine as Australia’s captain. This left Root to make a difficult decision, given the green wicket at the Gabba and with rain in the forecast.
For the first time since 1936, a wicket fell in Down Under on the first ball of the Ashes series. England lost a wicket on the first ball at the Gabba in ’36 and went 20–3 down, but recovered to win the match.
With a lack of preparation due to regular rain in recent weeks and a two-week quarantine after arriving in Australia, this England lineup has a long way to go.
England have not won a Test match in Australia since winning the Ashes in 2010–11, and have not won a Test at the Gabba since 1986. After the first two seasons, it would be an uphill struggle to reverse that sequence.
England’s batsmen struggled to cope with the extra bounce and carry that characterize the Gabba pitch, and Australia’s fast trio bowled an excellent line and length in the conditions.
England’s bowling attack will lack a lot of experience, as Stuart Broad was dropped from the 12-man squad at the toss.
Broad and Jimmy Anderson have combined nine Ashes tours in Australia, but both are out of the opening match, leaving Wood, Woakes and Robinson as specialist pacers and Leach as specialist spin substitutes.
ashes | Captain Cummins took 5 wickets; England crash to 147 on rain-hit first day
England captain Joe Root won the toss, opted to bat and lost the first ball of the Ashes series to opener Rory Burns, a late swing yorker from Australia pacer Mitchell Starc.
It set the tone for the opening two sessions on Wednesday, which were open seasons for Australia’s fast bowling pack.
Pat Cummins took the last three wickets and took five wickets in his first innings as Australia captain. England’s innings ended with thunder and lightning that began to the west and south of the Gabba.
Heavy rain and poor lighting combined to prevent any play on the first day.
Following Starc’s opening strike, Josh Hazlewood dismissed David Malan (6) and Root (0), leaving England 11-3 in the sixth over.
When Cummins took his first wicket – star all-rounder Ben Stokes (5) caught low at third slip by Marnus Labuschagne four balls after the first drink break – England were trailing 29-4.
Opener Haseeb Hameed deflected the attack and helped England 59-4 at lunch, but was dismissed for 25 at the start of the second session when he edged a delivery from Cummins that went off the seam. And was caught by Steve Smith at second slip.
Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler settled the innings, sharing a 50-run stand to stem the flow of wickets before both were dismissed in the 30s.
Buttler played an expansive drive to reach 39 for his fifth boundary, but was dismissed by Starc on the next ball, leaving Alex Carey behind as England rolled to 112-6. England added six runs before Pope (35) hooked in an attempt and was caught diving near the fine leg boundary by Hazlewood, giving all-rounder Cameron Green his maiden Test wicket.
Cummins caught Ollie Robinson (0) behind and caught Mark Wood (8) at short leg and the stadium lights were on before Chris Woakes (21) was caught in the deep by Hazlewood to end the innings Went.
Cummins scored 5-38 in 13.1 overs, with Starc and Hazlewood taking two wickets each.
It turns out, it was a good toss for Cummins to lose in his first Test since replacing Tim Paine as Australia’s captain. This left Root to make a difficult decision, given the green wicket at the Gabba and with rain in the forecast.
For the first time since 1936, a wicket fell in Down Under on the first ball of the Ashes series. England lost a wicket on the first ball at the Gabba in ’36 and went 20–3 down, but recovered to win the match.
With a lack of preparation due to regular rain in recent weeks and a two-week quarantine after arriving in Australia, this England lineup has a long way to go.
England have not won a Test match in Australia since winning the Ashes in 2010–11, and have not won a Test at the Gabba since 1986. After the first two seasons, it would be an uphill struggle to reverse that sequence.
England’s batsmen struggled to cope with the extra bounce and carry that characterize the Gabba pitch, and Australia’s fast trio bowled an excellent line and length in the conditions.
England’s bowling attack will lack a lot of experience, as Stuart Broad was dropped from the 12-man squad at the toss.
Broad and Jimmy Anderson have combined nine Ashes tours in Australia, but both are out of the opening match, leaving Wood, Woakes and Robinson as specialist pacers and Leach as specialist spin substitutes.
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