The wicket fell on the very first day in PerthImage Credit source: Robbie Stephenson/PA Images via Getty Images
When Australia’s fast bowler Mitchell Starc took the wicket of England’s opener Jack Crawley in the very first over of the match, hardly anyone would have thought that by the end of the day’s play, Australia would also be on the verge of being all out. But the beginning of the Ashes series, which returned after a wait of about two and a half years, was so sensational that it became difficult for the batsmen to stay at the crease and the 137-year-old record was broken. First Mitchell Starc and then Ben Stokes wreaked such havoc that 19 wickets fell on the first day of the Perth Test.
The first Test of the 5-match Ashes series started at Optus Stadium in Perth on Friday 21st November and it started just as Australia would have wanted. The Australian team, which was going without veteran fast bowlers like captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, expected its experienced bowler Mitchell Starc to take up the big responsibility and this left-arm pacer did not disappoint. After dismissing Crawley in the first over, Starc single-handedly took the first 3 wickets of England including Joe Root.
Olly Pope, Harry Brook and Jamie Smith continued to bat aggressively amid falling wickets. But Starc continued to trouble England and for the first time in his Test career, he took 7 wickets in an innings and reduced the English team to just 172 runs. Starc also completed 100 wickets in the Ashes during this period. Fast bowler Brandon Doggett, who was making his Test debut, also took 2 wickets, while Cameron Green also got one success.
If Starc alone wreaked such havoc, then the entire pace battery of England pushed Australia on the backfoot with their stormy bowling. In the first over, Joffra Archer dismissed debuting opener Jack Weatherald. The bowling of Archer and Gus Atkinson was so tight that only the first 4 overs turned out to be maidens. Australia’s account opened on the fourth ball of the fifth over. Even after this, the English pacers kept firing and soon Archer dismissed Marnus Labuschagne and in the next over, Brydon Carse sent Steve Smith back to the pavilion.
Carrs also dismissed Usman Khawaja in his next over and Australia lost 4 wickets for just 31 runs. From here Cameron Green and Travis Head took over the innings and were seen building a good partnership. But then the magic of English captain Stokes worked and he destroyed the Australian innings by taking the next 5 wickets in no time. By the end of the day’s play, Australia had lost 9 wickets, while they could score only 123 runs.
In this way, a total of 19 wickets fell on the first day of the Perth Test match, which is the highest on the first day of the series in the entire history of the Ashes. Earlier, there was a record of 18 wickets falling on the first day of the Ashes series, which was seen 137 years ago in 1888. However, that was only a test match series. The same number of wickets had fallen at Lord’s on the first day of the 1896 series. And after 116 years, so many wickets were seen falling on the first day of any Test match of Ashes. Earlier, in the fourth Test of the 1909 series, the maximum number of 20 wickets had fallen on the first day at Old Trafford.