Cummins enjoys perfect Ashes start as England crumbles
Pat Cummins can't take the field in Adelaide, but he can train in Sydney for the Boxing Day test. Photo: Getty
Australia’s fast bowlers have delivered the perfect start to life under new captain Pat Cummins on the opening day of the first Ashes Test at the Gabba.
Cummins claimed a five-wicket haul on his first day as Australia’s 47th Test captain as England were dismissed shortly before tea on day one for 147.
Cummins’ 5-38 led the way for the hosts while Mitchell Starc (2-35), Josh Hazlewood (2-42) and Cameron Green (1-6) all claimed scalps.
Starc began the rout with the very first ball of the match, swinging a full delivery around Rory Burns’ pads to bowl the English opener for his sixth Test duck this calendar year.
It is just the second time in Ashes history a batsman has been dismissed off the first delivery of a series and had the capacity Brisbane crowd on its feet.
It’s also the 13th time Starc has claimed a wicket in the first over of a Test innings since 2014.
From the other end, Hazlewood chimed in with two quick wickets of his own, including England captain Joe Root for a duck, as the tourists slumped to 3-11 inside six overs.
Superstar allrounder Ben Stokes then came to the pitch. But when he fell in the first over after drinks to become Cummins’ first victim as Australia captain, England was reeling at 4-29.
Cummins struck again in the first over after lunch to remove Haseeb Hamed (25) before a 52-run stand by Jos Buttler and Ollie Pope halted the hosts’ charge.
When Buttler nicked a Starc delivery to debutant wicketkeeper Alex Carey to end his 58-ball 39, the English once again collapsed.
Green then snared his maiden Test wicket when he had Pope (35) caught at deep backward square-leg by Hazlewood before Cummins claimed his third wicket with the dismissal of Ollie Robinson (0).
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As a thunderstorm closed in on the Gabba, Cummins wrapped up the innings with the final wickets of Mark Wood (8) and Chris Woakes (21) to put Australia in a great position.
England went into the Test without either Stuart Broad or Jimmy Anderson for the first time since 2006 after Broad was omitted from the tourists’ line-up before the toss.
-AAP
