Mitchell Starc demolishes England with fiery 5-for

Mitchell Starc extended his rampage after the break, removing captain Ben Stokes to push England deeper into trouble, as the fiery pacer surged to four wickets and left the visitors in disarray. Mitchell Starc’s fiery opening spell put Australia firmly on top as England limped to lunch at 105/4 in the first session. Cameron Green deepened England’s troubles by dismissing Ollie Pope, tightening Australia’s hold after Mitchell Starc had already ripped through the top order. Starc delivered a fiery burst, claiming three early wickets — including Joe Root for a duck — to leave England in disarray. He had set the tone right from the opening over, removing Zak Crawley for a duck and putting Australia firmly in command from the start. Ben Stokes chose to bat first in Perth, signalling England’s intent despite the bounce-friendly surface, as they field an all-pace attack built to harness the pitch’s extra carry and seam movement.

For the first time in many decades, England fly over to Australia with a competitive Ashes on the cards. The expectations for this round of the Ashes is through the roof: a strong, nearly revolutionary England team captained by Ben Stokes and coached by Brendon ‘Bazball’ McCullum, against an ageing Australian team on the verge of a massive transition. On the back of a famous and hotly contested series that finished 2-2 when they last met in England, Stokes’ men travel to Australia with ambitions of winning Down Under for the first time in 15 years – and only for the second time in the last 40.

Australia have already announced their team for the opening Test match, set to be played at the Perth Stadium. Australia are without captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, both of whom are injured. Mitchell Starc takes the lead for the hosts, and will be joined by Scott Boland and debutant Brendan Doggett.

Doggett isn’t the only debutant in the Aussie team, as Jake Weatherald earns a Test cap at the top of the order, where he will accompany Usman Khawaja. Steven Smith will be the skipper of the team, and has already been dealt his fair share of sandpapergate barbs – expect much more of that.

Australia playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Brendan Doggett, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

England have gone against their recent trend of naming their playing XI well in advance, but have named their 12 from which the players will be chosen. They will want to have a look at the pitch before making a choice between off-spinner Shoaib Bashir or whether they go in with a pace-heavy all-seam attack. Mark Wood’s fitness is under the scanner.

However, the batting is set, with their two fast-and-furious openers and a top-quality middle order, with Joe Root having desires of scoring his first ton in Australia.

England playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood