An insipid batting display lasting two sessions yesterday left England with a lot of catching up to do after a terrible start to their Ashes campaign against Australia.
Barring the toss, hardly anything went right for captain Joe Root’s men in the Ashes opener at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia, where they were dismantled for 147 on the opening day with rival captain Pat Cummins (5-38) leading the rout in his first match in charge.
Even Root’s decision to bat at a venue where England have not won in 35 years backfired almost as soon as it had been made.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The start could not have been more calamitous for the tourists, as Mitchell Starc fired a searing yorker at the base of England opener Rory Burns’ leg-stump.
As England’s horror Ashes starts go, it ranks alongside Steve Harmison’s opening delivery of the 2006-2007 series, which was so wide it ended up at second slip.
Getting safely through the first hour is a time-honored strategy for any batting side, but by the sixth over England were already gasping at 11-3.
Root fell for one of the three ducks in the English innings, star all-rounder Ben Stokes’ return to action proved a low-key affair and an overall lack of intent blighted England’s batting.
Jos Buttler’s counterattacking 39, while inadequate, provided a template for how to thwart Australia’s relentless pace attack complemented by their superb catching.
It was a “disappointing start” for the visitors, conceded middle-order batsman Ollie Pope, whose 52-run stand with Buttler was the only significant partnership in England’s innings.
“There was frustration that we haven’t been able to put on that big score that we wanted,” Pope said. “Obviously frustrated as a unit, but we’re not going to get too down.”
“It’s a long tour, it’s a long series. Going to keep our spirits high, come fighting tomorrow,” he added.
Even the weather gods appeared to be against England.
Rain in Brisbane washed out the final session, denying their pace attack an opportunity to operate on a green-tinged wicket in overcast conditions.
The onus is now on those bowlers to haul England back into the contest in the absence of paceman Stuart Broad, whose omission surprised many.
England are already without James Anderson through injury and this is the first time in five years that neither has bowled in a Test.
“I think we’ve got the skillset in our bowlers to drag this back,” Pope said. “We’re going to keep fighting. We don’t know how [the wicket] is going to react tomorrow.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite