Starc takes a career-best 7 wickets as Australia dismisses England for 172 on Day 1 of the Ashes
Perth (AP): Mitchell Starc took a career-best 7-58 as Australia bundled England out for 172 despite losing the toss Friday in the Ashes cricket series opener.
Starc took a wicket in the first over of a test for the 24th time to set the tone, having Zac Crawley caught at slip by Usman Khawaja on the sixth delivery before England had scored a run.
The 35-year-old left-armer snared three wickets in his first five overs, picking up his 100th career wicket, and had England in trouble at 105 for four at lunch on Day 1.
He took four more after the interval, including the key wicket of Ben Stokes, as England lost six wickets for 67 runs after lunch — the last five wickets tumbling for 12 runs to be all out in the second session.
Ben Duckett (21) was punishing an off-rhythm Scott Boland's half-volleys at the other end to keep the runs flowing, punching four boundaries down the ground, before Starc trapped him lbw in the seventh over with a full-length ball.
Duckett reviewed the decision but tracking technology confirmed the umpire's decision and England was 33-2.
Joe Root, the No. 1-ranked test batter but still searching for his first Ashes century in Australia, faced seven balls before he nicked Starc to Marnus Labuschagne at third slip for a duck and England slumped to 39-3.
The key dismissal gave Starc his 100th Ashes wicket, at an average of 26.65, and gave Australia the ascendancy after England won the toss and batted.
A 55-run stand between Ollie Pope (46) and Harry Brook (52) gave England some momentum before allrounder Cameron Green (1-10) struck at the end of his first over of bowling in a test match since 2023.
Green trapped Pope lbw and again England reviewed the decision, which was upheld by the TV umpire using tracking technology.
England's attacking intent kept with the “ Bazball ” method under Brendon McCullum's coaching, aiming to score quickly and make the bowlers wilt.
The team batting first has won all five tests played at Perth Stadium — which replaced the WACA as the Western Australian capital's test venue — and that was a heavy factor in Stokes deciding to go against his preferred option of bowling first and chasing.
The English, trying to win a test in Australia for the first time since 2010-11, opted for an all-pace attack led by Jofra Archer and 35-year-old Mark Wood.
Australia has won 13 and drawn two of its last 15 Ashes tests in Australia.
Regular skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are missing the first test because of injuries, opening the way for Brendan Doggett to make his test debut and become the third Indigenous Australian man to play test cricket.
Doggett bowled alongside Boland, making it the first time two Indigenous Australians have played in the same test lineup. He troubled Pope in his first over and made a vital breakthrough in his sixth to have Brook caught behind, cramped for room and gloving a short-pitch ball down legside.
Doggett also troubled Brydon Carse (6) with short-pitch bowling before getting his wicket, caught in the outfield by Marnus Labuschagne.
Starc, who picked up his fifth five-wicket haul in the Ashes when he had Gus Atkinson caught at slip by Steve Smith, picked off the last two wickets on consecutive balls to remove Jamie Smith (33) and Mark Wood (0).
He'll start the next innings on a hat-trick.
“Nice way to start a series,” Starc said. “There's been a lot made about the (Cummins and Hazlewood) being not here and I guess me being an experienced one, so nice to lead that way.”
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Jai Bhim: Slogan that energised Dalits was first given at this central Maharashtra village
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): 'Jai Bhim': These two words have come to symbolise the awakening and empowerment of the Dalit community in independent India, but not many people know how it originated.
The slogan, which also encapsulates the immense reverence in which Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is held, was first raised at the Makranpur Parishad, a conference organised at Makranpur village in Kannad teshil of today's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.
Bhausaheb More, the first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation of Marathwada, organised the first Makranpur Parishad on December 30, 1938.
Dr Ambedkar spoke at the conference and asked the people not to support the princely state of Hyderabad under which much of central Maharashtra then fell, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Pravin More, Bhausaheb's son.
"When Bhausaheb stood up to speak, he said every community has its own deity and they greet each other using the name of that deity. Dr Ambedkar showed us the path of progress, and he is like God to us. So henceforth, we should say 'Jai Bhim' while meeting each other. The people responded enthusiastically. A resolution accepting 'Jai Bhim' as the community's slogan was also passed," More told PTI.
"My father came in contact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his early years. Bhausaheb was aware of the atrocities the Nizam state committed on Dalits. He told Ambedkar about these atrocities, including the pressure to convert. Dr Ambedkar was strongly against these atrocities, and he decided to attend the 1938 conference," he said.
As Ambedkar was against the princely states, he was banned from giving speeches in the Hyderabad state but was allowed to travel through its territories. The Shivna river formed the border between Hyderabad and British India. Makranpur was chosen as the venue for the first conference because it was on the banks of Shivna but lay in the British territory, ACP More said.
The stage made of bricks, from where Dr Ambedkar addressed the conference, still stands. The conference is organised on December 30 every year to carry forward Ambedkar's thought, and the tradition was not discontinued even in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced one of the worst droughts in it history.
"My grandmother pledged her jewellery for the conference expenses. People from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada attended it. Despite a ban imposed by the Nizam's police, Ambedkar's followers crossed the river to attend the event," said ACP More.
"This is the 87th year of Makranpur Parishad. We have deliberately retained the venue as it helps spread Ambedkar's thought in rural areas," he added.
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