After England were crushed inside two days in Perth, the second Test in Brisbane exploded into life with a frantic, error-strewn opening passage under the day-night conditions.
The drama began even before the first ball, when Australia confirmed the omission of spinner Nathan Lyon in favour of seamer Michael Neser. But the real pandemonium erupted once Mitchell Starc took the new ball.
Within four overs, England had two ducks, survived a dramatic drop catch, and escaped a near certain dismissal after Australia failed to appeal. The Test had barely begun, yet it already felt like another chapter of Ashes bedlam.
Starc struck immediately, removing Ben Duckett with his first delivery to continue England’s top-order woes. Duckett, pushed into a tentative prod at a swinging full ball, edged to slip for a golden duck. Remarkably, this marked the third duck by an England opener in just the first two Tests of the series.
Ollie Pope followed soon after, committing what commentators called an “unforgivable error” given the early uneven bounce. Attempting an expansive cut to a wide delivery, Pope chopped on for 5-2, leaving England stunned only 15 balls into the match.
Joe Root almost departed in the same over. Squared up by Starc, he edged low towards the slips, where Steve Smith dived across Marnus Labuschagne but failed to cling on to a difficult catch. Instead of disaster, Root collected a streaky four.
Moments later, Zak Crawley appeared to edge behind off Neser. The bowler appealed, but with no support from teammates. Replays showed a faint mark on the snicko, though not conclusive enough to guarantee a DRS overturn. Australia’s hesitation may have spared England another blow.
Despite the carnage, England survived Starc’s first spell without further losses. But the early strikes extended Starc’s phenomenal Ashes and pink-ball legacy. The 35-year-old joined Pakistan legend Wasim Akram on 414 Test wickets, the most by any left-arm pacer in history.
It also marked the 26th time he has claimed a wicket in the first over of a Test innings—three of them coming in this series alone. His day-night dominance continues too, with his tally rising to 83 wickets from just 15 matches, far ahead of teammate Pat Cummins.
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell summed up Starc’s aura with typical humour on Test Match Special. “Mitchell Starc always looked so calm at breakfast,” Tufnell said. “That’s how you know he’s world-class. He’s calm while you’re nervous.”
For England, calm was the last thing on display. Their top order once again crumbled under pressure, making poor decisions against swing, bounce and the intensity of the Australian attack. The echoes of Mitchell Johnson’s destruction in 2013-14 felt unmistakable.
By the time the Test was an hour old, Australia had manufactured chaos, England had survived only by fortune, and Starc had already tightened his grip on yet another Ashes series. It was, in every sense, an Ashes start defined by panic, brilliance, and the unpredictable theatre that continues to define cricket’s fiercest rivalry.
