Picture Credit: Twitter/@cricketcomau
Although cricket has been an established sport for long now and Ashes - a celebrated rivalry, the fact that only a handful times before in Test cricket has a batter been send back to the pavilion on the first ball of the match, tells a story. However, the rare feat occurred on Wednesday when Mitchell Starc added his name to the history books as he dismissed Rory Burns on the first ball of the match as Australia and England began their Ashes opener.
The left-armer Starc produced a superb swinging delivery first up from around the pads of the left-handed Burns leaving him clueless as the ball went past him and crashed into the stumps. It is worth highlighting that it was the visiting team that had won the toss and opted to bat first but will clearly not be pleased with the kind of show their batters produced, going at lunch 4 down for 59 and later getting bowled out for 147.
Although none of the English top-order batters managed to survive the lethal spell of bowling from the Aussies, it was the Burns' wicket that was crucial given that a good start might have set the tempo for the remainder of the game.
A video of Burns' dismissal has also been shared by Cricket Australia.
"WHAT A WAY TO START THE #ASHES!," the video was captioned.
Check it out here:
Earlier, England's Stan Worthington had been removed by Australia's Ernie McCormick on the first ball of the Ashes series on December 4, 1936 - which happens to be the other time a wicket fell in the first ball of an Ashes series.
It should be noted that Starc had been a victim of a lot of criticism heading into this series as he had not been in the best of form. But his wicket first up as well his overall figures of 2 for 35 was a good response to all things that were being said outside.
In addition, it was a memorable day out for Pat Cummins. Making his debut as captain, Cummins scalped a fifer giving away just 38 runs. From here, Cummins will want to mark his captaincy debut with a win against their arch-rivals.