Ash 2025-26 [WATCH]: Mitchell Starc floors England captain Ben Stokes with an absolute Jaffa on day 1 of the Perth Test

Ash 2025-26 started with a lot of drama in Perth as Australia‘s pace pack, led by Mitchell Starcput down England under heavy pressure on the opening day of the first test. England opted to bat under clear skies and backed their aggressive ‘Bazball’ template, but soon found that Perth’s extra pace and bounce combined with Starc’s left-arm angle was a very different challenge. Midway through the second session, the visitors were tottering at 127/5 in 27 overs, scoring at 4.89 but bleeding at crucial moments.

Ashes 2025-26: Mitchell Starc uproots Ben Stokes’ stumps with a brute on day 1 of the Perth Test

The highlight of the day and possibly the series came with 24.5 overs, when Starc produced an absolute jaffa to remove the England captain Ben Stokes. I’ve already fallen over Zak Crawley for a duck, caught Ben Ducket lb and shipped Joe Root back for 0, Starc arrived at Stokes with tail up and figures shouting menace. He scrambled up the seam over the wicket, went a touch fuller and a fraction closer to stump, dragging Stokes into a cautious forward press. Expecting the familiar outswinger, Stokes played to move away, but the ball crashed sharply back through the gaping fence and crashed into the stumps, causing center and middle to cartwheel.

Stokes, who managed just six off 12 balls, could only turn and stare at the wreckage as Starc rode away in celebration, teammates swarming him as Perth erupted. The dismissal summed up the match perfectly: a fast bowler reading the batsman’s line-up, changing the angle and length by a small margin, and being rewarded with a delivery that would have challenged even the most in-form batsman. By then Starc’s figures read 4 for 34, a spell that had ripped the heart out of England’s vaunted top flight and set the tone for Australia’s Ashes defence.

Here’s the video:

MITCH STARC ZEEEEEED! What a shame to sack Ben Stokes. #Ash | #PlayoftheDay | @nrverzekering pic.twitter.com/PehDst540x

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 21, 2025

Also READ: Ashes 2025-26: Fans brutally troll Joe Root as Mitchell Starc removes England superstar batsman for a 7-ball duck | Perth test, day 1

Australia in control as Harry Brook fights a lonely battle in Ashes 2025-26 opener in Perth

Despite the collapse unfolding around him, Harry Brook continued to epitomize England’s new-age batting philosophy, counter-punching and reaching an unbeaten 45 off 54 balls with five fours and a six. He joined for the first time Ollie Pope at 39 for 3 and helped develop a 55-run stand for the fourth wicket, one of the few periods when England looked calm. Pope, compact and busy, put together a well-made 46 off 58 deliveries before falling down Cameron Green after a DRS review, the call was confirmed on the field.

By lunch England were 105 for 4, the run rate healthy but the position vulnerable, with Brook on 28 and Stokes trying to rebuild. However, Starc’s post-interval strike at Castle Stokes at 115 for 5 tipped the match decisively in Australia’s direction. Jamie Smith added a solid 8* from 8 balls, but with only the lower order, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer And Highlight Wood – to follow, the responsibility remained firmly on Brook to drag England towards respectability.

Australia’s support provided constant pressure from the other side. Scott Bolandalthough wicketless at 0 for 57 from 9.1 overs, probed relentlessly on a tight line, while Brendan Doggett And Nathan Lyon checked the score in short bursts. Green’s solitary wicket of Pope added vital balance to the attack. The fall-of-wicket pattern, 1/0 (Crawley), 2/33 (Duckett), 3/39 (Root), 4/94 (Pope), 5/115 (Stokes), underlined how often Australia struck just when England were looking to build partnerships.

With England five down for 127 and plenty of overs remaining on Day 1, Australia have a firm grip on the Ashes opener. Starc’s searing spell, complemented by that unplayable jaffa for Stokes, has already given this series its first iconic moment and put England’s batting blueprint under scrutiny in Perth.

Also WATCH: Joe Root’s struggles in Australia continue as Mitchell Starc takes 100th Ashes wicket on Day 1 of the Perth Test