Australia vs England 1st Test: Mitchell Starc Repeats 85-year Old Feat To Enter Rarest Of Rare Ashes List

Australian left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc gave the hosts a great start to the Ashes series as he picked up the wicket of England opener Rory Burns off the very first delivery of the first Test in Brisbane. Starc bowled a swinging delivery full at the pads of Burns, whose initial shuffle towards the off stump meant he missed the ball,  which went on to his the stumps. It was an embarrassing dismissal for Burns and opened the doors for a top order collapse which saw the Aussie reduce the Three Lions to 29/4 before Haseeb Hameed and Ollie Pope took them to lunch at 59/4.

Starc is known for his lethal ability to strike in the very first over across formats and by doing so on the very first delivery of the Brisbane Test, he became only the second bowler since 1936 to pick up a wicket on the first ball of a series between England and Australia.

The last bowler to do so was Australia's Ernie McCormick, who dismissed England's Stan Worthington for a first ball duck in the first Test of the series in December 1936. Interestingly, that match was also played in Brisbane.

Starc has now picked up a wicket in the very first over of a Test match for the 13th time since the beginning of 2014, which puts him ahead of James Anderson in the list in the same period. He has also struck 19 times in one-day internationals in the same period, which is a lot more than second placed Lasith Malinga.

England also lost the wickets of Dawid Malan, Joe Root and Ben Stokes in the first session and went into lunch in day 1 at 59/4. 

Topics mentioned in this article

Australia Cricket Team England Cricket Team Mitchell Starc Rory Burns Joe Root Pat Cummins The Ashes, 2021/22 Brisbane Cricket Ground (Woolloongabba), Brisbane