England vs Australia, Ashes first Test day 1 live: Latest updates from ...

Root plays off the back foot to a full Lyon delivery and it wraps the England man on the pads. There’s an appeal and it’s given not out. Good call, it was going down leg. 

The next ball he reverse sweeps for four before trying his luck again. BUT this time the ball beats the bat and it looks plumb lbw. It’s given out BUT (another caps lock that is well worth it...) Root reviews immediately and the replay reveals that it hit his glove on the way through, phew...Root then - yep, you’ve guessed it - reverses sweeps again and gets another four. Marvellous stuff. 

Boland is back - it’s hot and Cummins is, understandably, giving his seamers short spells. The Australian doesn’t err on line a lot but he does here and Root says ‘thank you very much’ with a flick for four round the corner. 

Lyon bowls his 14th over - it’s clear already that he’ll be doing the lion’s share of the work and also just how important he’ll be to the tourists this summer. Two singles are followed by a lovely shot from the Ginger Bradman as he hits the offie over the infield, down the ground for a majestic, and statement-of-intent four. 

Two singles from that over from Patsy Cummins. 

It feels as though this is the match-shaping partnership.  If Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow can stay together until the second ball, no matter the rate they score, England will have a formidable total on a dry pitch of uncertain bounce. If they don’t...

Australia’s fielding has been a little short of its best after lunch: Travis Head missed a catch off Harry Brook. In one Josh Hazlewood over, Head and Pat Cummins both let fours through that they will feel they should have stopped. David Warner later also misfielded, costing a single. It is true that Test margins are rarely decided by such tiny margins - England’s one-run defeat in Wellington in February a notable exception - but misfields also give England the oxygen of regular run-scoring. The only maiden today, from Hazlewood, was followed two balls later by the wicket of Brook.   

Green is bowling noticeably shorter than the other three seamers and it’s allowing Bairstow to get in, the all-rounder without the pace to really trouble this pair. Bairstow pulls one for two before cutting a wide one for four. The Ginger Bradman is looking composed and confident and is already 18 runs to the good. 

Joe Root was dismissed six times by Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood during the 2019 Ashes series - averaging 20 with four dismissals lbw or bowled.
In an attempt to counter their threat, he's batting further out of his crease in this innings than he did in 2019.#ENGvAUS #Ashes pic.twitter.com/dhCXKMVEbp

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) June 16, 2023

Cummins tends to come into his own when the ball is getting old, he somehow gets it to talk when others would get up. He’s bowling to Root and traps the England great on the pads as he falls over to the off side. The Australian skipper looks very interested but it’s not given and Cummins doesn’t review. It’s a good decision as Hawk Eye shows it would have gone over the stumps. 

Australia will be feeling quite strong after losing the toss on this very flat wicket. As predicted I get the feeling Nathan Lyon could be a big difference in this series.

Fifty for Root (his 59h Test half ton) comes up thanks to a four and a single off the first couple of balls if this Green over. The over ends with a wonderful Bairstow drive for four. A good over for the Yorkshire boys at the crease, 11 from it. 

England could do with a good partnership from this pair, they love batting together. With five wickets the tourists will rightfully think they are well in this contest. 

Cummins to Root and the former England captain flicks him for a single round the corner. Bairstow is on strike and the Australian gets one to talk, moving away with a bit of bounce. The ball has done a lot more since the break than it did before. 

Finally Cameron Green comes into the attack - a lot is hoped for of this beanpole of an all-rounder. He’s bowling to Bairstow first up and start with a bouncer (not seen many of those today...) that the Ginger Bradman gets under with ease. Bairstow then gets right in behind the next ball and pushes with the full face of the bat for a scampered single to the off side. 

Hazlewood is straying onto the stumps and Root is able to manipulate the ball to cow corner, firstly for four then, next ball, for two. This was a contest many were looking forward to - Australia need Root’s wicket and Hazlewood (eight times he’s got the great out) would appear to be the man to try and take it. 

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 16, 2023

Three singles from that Lyon over. 

That Stokes dismissal was reminscent of the booming coverdrive which he edged at Headingley in the first innings of the 2019 Test there. Still in white-ball mode, undercooked, not enough red-ball cricket? England will have to hope that his second innings here is something similar to his 135 not out.

Big wicket that. Not just that it was Stokes but at 176 for five Australia are on top now. The old Boycott maxim of adding two wicket to the score to see how you’re really doing working well for the tourists here, if not England. 

Bairstow is the new man and he has two Hazlewood deliveries to negotiate -  first ball the Australian seamer targets the pads (Bairstow’s weakness) they appeal (half-heartedly) for lbw, it’s not given but, after a wee discussion, the tourists review. Hawk Eye shows the ball would have gone over the stumps. The last ball of the over sees the new batsman get off the mark with a dab to the off side. 

That was eventful and maybe a seminal over of the day? 

Stokes c Carey b Hazlewood 1

Hazlewood, over the wicket, to Stokes he slants one across the England batsman, pitches it up there inviting the England captain to drive. Stokes does indeed drive, but only succeeds in getting a thin edge to Carey. It’s given out and, for some reason (obviously though he didn’t nick it), Stokes reviews - the replay confirming that he did indeed get bat on ball. 

FOW 176/5

Brook dismissal: that is the one drawback to wearing a helmet. When the ball goes straight up in the air above the batsman’s head, he cannot see what is going on. Had he been wearing a cap or nothing on his head, Brook would have had a far better chance. Alex Carey, also helmeted, did not see it either.

Anything but clean bowled!

Stokes comes to the crease - dare I say it? - he could with a score here. Third ball he goes for the reverse sweep, it looks ungainly and he’s lucky the ball doesn’t cannon onto the stumps. The captain then gets off the mark next ball. 

A big 30 minutes coming up, I reckon, another quick wicket for the Australians and they’d be marginally on top. 

Brook b Lyon 32 

How unlucky can you be? Brook as played well but is undone as a Lyon ball hits his thigh pad, loops up high with fielders and batsman unsure where the ball is, when it eventually comes back to earth it hits Brooks on his back leg and then the stumps. Not seen a dismissal like that ever. 

FOW 175/4

Good over from Hazlewood. He’s getting a bit of (conventional) away swing, bowling a decent line and length, and Brook does well to play this over watchfully without any apparent urge to throw bat at ball. 

BREAKING NEWS: Australia bowl the first maiden of the day...

Such a shame for England that Travis Head has been fielding on the side of the ground opposite the Hollies stand. So far he has got away with dropping the catch offered by Brook and the misfield off Root’s back cut that he pushed round the post for four.

When you drop catches, as Head has done, the ball does tend to follow you around and the Australian comes in to collect the ball and gets a sarcastic cheer from the increasingly raucous crowd. The 50 partnership then comes up - it’s come off just 54 balls and, bar that Brook charge at Lyon, has come without a shot really played in anger. 

Hazlewood to Root and the England drives the Australian down the ground for a peach of a four. He then tries the same trick two balls later but doesn’t time this one and has to settle for just the one. 

Brook is on strike and he punches off the backfoot, he times the ball so well and Head at backward point does well to get there but then fumbles (again...) and the ball trickles over the boundary for four. The crowd will let him know about that...

England scored 61 singles in the first 30 overs of the Test - only nine innings in Test history have ever had more in the first 30.

A testament to how proactive England were, and how they recognised that the fields let them score quickly with little risk, but Australia will wonder whether they could have had more fielders saving singles and fewer on the boundary.

After four balls Lyon decides to come over the wicket and Root pushes it for a single to leg. Two from the over. 

That’s actually a bad miss by Travis Head, and he’s getting a bit of stick for it. Was a filthy ball and a filthy shot, and he failed to pick it up quickly. If he had immediately, it could have been a routine catch three-quarters of the way to the long boundary. 

Third man has gone squarer and this is a gift from the gods for Brook who opens up the face to Boland’s first ball of this over for what is a simple four. It would be good to find out how many runs have come from that third man region...A two follows before he charges Boland and drives for four. He’s playing like the Brook we saw over he winter - great for England, not so much so for Australia. 

Then a let off...Brook cuts uppishly to a short one, it’s in the air with Travis Head rushing in from the boundary. He gets to it, the ball is in his hands but...it then fumbles out. It was a tough chance but one they may wish Head had taken...

Boland then finds the edge of Root’s bat, but, again, it doesn’t carry. Good comeback from the Australian. 

Brook is looking to attack Lyon, as he said he would, opening up the off side. He drives well but mid-off dives and prevents a definite four. Root then stays on the back foot for the rest of the over watching and playing the offie carefully, before bringing the reverse sweep out of his locker for two. 

Boland gets another one to bounce (as with the ball that got Crawley) but Root plays this late (almost behind him) and with soft hands, getting a two for his troubles. A single follows to get Brook on strike who punches off the back foot for two. 

First ball sees Brook at his attacking best, he goes out to in and hits Lyon over the covers for four. He did say that if the offie bowls something that is there to be hit he’s happily go after it and it seems he’s being true to his word. 

Two balls later there’s a thickish outside edge, but it’s not really a chance to Smith at slip. That goes for two and a single follows and in the blink of an eye Brook is in double figures. 

Boland continues from the pavilion end and once again Root is allowed to dab away for an easy single down to third man. The Australians are doubtless happy for the England great to play that shot as it brings the edge into play. He’s been out that way before, especially a few times on the last tour Down Under. 

England’s rotation has been a mark of their batting today, and it continues this over. Both batsmen aren’t overly set and these easy singles are allowing them to get in. Un-Australian to attack the new men at the crease? 

Boland then beats Root’s bat with one that neither bounces nor carries to Carey. 

It’s Lyon to test Brook, again round the wicket. The Yorkshire batsmen (there are two at the wicket currently) picks length quickly (as with Root) and pushes for a single to deep mid-wicket. Root then tries to reverse sweep the spinner and is wrapped on his front pad. The tourists are excited but decide not to review, doubtless because after at least 15 seconds of deliberation they all came to the conclusion (correctly) that the ball pitched outside leg and hit outside leg. Two singles from the over. 

With Nathan Lyon getting through a fair bit of work, Australia didn’t require Cameron Green’s bowling in the morning session. They are always wary about his workload, because of previous back issues. There is a chance he bowls this afternoon, though: he had a big warm up at lunch. 

Boland completes his over and Brook is away first ball - again all too easily - with a push into the covers. 

Three wickets on a flat deck against an England side scoring quickly made it Australia’s session as the Ashes started with an engrossing two hours.

Zak Crawley’s 61 from 73 balls was his best performance for England since his hundred in Rawalpindi but he fell in the final over before lunch caught behind off Scott Boland to open up the innings for Australia in the afternoon.

Australia’s response to Bazball was to spread the field and starve them of boundaries. There was not a single maiden bowled in the session, England picking off the runs on offer in the gaps and going along at 4.65 an over, but Australia’s patience paid off by engineering opportunities.

Crawley majestically drove the first ball of the series for four to bring a packed Edgbaston to its feet, and his defence was generally pretty sound but he needed luck too, Australia failing to review an edge behind off Boland when he had 40.

Ben Duckett played a bad shot, dabbing at a wide ball from Josh Hazlewood, and Ollie Pope missed a straight, quicker delivery from Nathan Lyon; neither batsman doing themselves justice having been gifted a flat pitch on their first day of home Ashes cricket.

Cummins started with three slips and a gully but within four overs had three on the boundary, his response to Bazball clear. There was grip and turn for Lyon after just ten overs, the pitch bone dry, biscuit coloured and bereft of any green grass so the Bazballers could play their shots. Australia snuffed those out with un-Australian tactics but by the end of day one it’s an approach that could be fully justified.

In stark contrast to the last Ashes series when Rory Burns was bowled around his legs first ball of the series, this time around England fared significantly better as Zak Crawley pummeled Pat Cummins through cover for four. Ben Stokes was clearly happy with his opening batsman!

The Crawley wicket is a major blow to England, with three down before lunch after winning the toss, BUT: this pitch is so dry that it is already playing tricks. The two balls from Scott Boland that climbed steeply (none of the Australian fielders noticed the first time that Crawley nicked off) can be contrasted with two balls in a row by Pat Cummins, from the same pavilion end, that bounced before they reached Alex Carey.

Batting first is a huge advantage if England can make the most of it and force Australia to chase a biggish target, when the bounce will be uneven and the ball will be going up and down, even if turning slowly for England’s offspinners.

But it all hinges on England cashing in today. 

That was the last ball of the session (two balls left of the over) and has the pendulum swung back to Australia? Three wickets on that track with England seemingly batting well and with confidence is a good effort and Pat Cummins and Co will be only too aware of that, as will the hosts. 

Crawley c Carey b Boland 61

Boland with the final over before lunch. Root nurdles a couple to backward square before a single gets Crawley on strike. 

The Australian then gets one to bounce a bit on the opener and he edges behind to Carey with high (ish) hands. The umpire, Marais Erasmus is unmoved, however, and the tourists review. And it’s clear they do so not without reason...it’s clearly hit the glove on the way through and that’s the end of a fine innings. 

FOW - 124/3

Lyon replaces Hazlewood (just the three overs in that spell for him) and he continues round the wicket. Again the runs flow, two singles for Root and a two and a one for Crawley. 

Root is a fine player so spin, as his record in Asia illustrates, and he’s picking the length of Lyon well, which is what Pope didn’t do with his dismissal. 

Root gets his first boundary of the day as Boland errs in line, straying to leg and the England great clips him for four with ease. A single follows and those are the only runs from the over. 

Five from this Hazlewood over - again Root is allowed to dab down to third man without much jeopardy...Cummins might do well to take note...

What the Australia captain does do is move Warner to short (ish) mid-wicket with the ball starting to swing. 

Boland returns after a brief break. He bowls one short and wide and Root pushes for an easy two. An easy single follows and while the boundaries are flowing the runs most definitely are.

As I type Boland gets one to dart back into Crawley and the opener’s extravagant drive is beaten all ends up. A warning sign perhaps? The lacquer no longer on the ball might help the Australia attack. 

Without tempting fate of course: the bowlers to have dismissed Joe Root most often in Test cricket are Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, eight times each in 15 Tests.

Hazlewood finds Root’s outside edge BUT it’s a thickish outside edge and the ball squirts for a single to the covers. Root’s head fell across the line there. Just the one run off that over - there have been no maidens so far. 

We’ve seen several Crawley drives so far this morning but now the big man brings out the pull. Cummins drops his length a tad and the confident opener rocks back and pulls for four. He then dabs on to the off side for a single. 

Such is the nature of the pitch and the form he’s showing you have to think that Crawley will be looking to get to three-figures and then make it a Daddy Hundred a la Pakistan three years ago...

Hazlewood returns and Root dinks a comfortable run through point (again, they know he likes that shot so why not set a field for it?). 

Here’s another subplot - Hazlewood has taken Root’s wicket eight times in Tests...they could do with him making it nine before the all-time England great gets in. 

Two from the over. 

Root is in but it’s Crawley to face Cummins and he brings up his half-century with a single through point. That’s well deserved - he has been a mixture of elegant and, more importantly, solid (not a word you usually associate with him). The 50 came off 56 balls - bravo. 

Root is on strike and beaten first up, he then gets off the mark with his trademark dab through the gully region. Not sure why there isn’t a man there considering that’s Root’s go-to shot...

Pope will be annoyed - he was looking good and went back to one that he could have come forward to. That’s three times in the last four innings Lyon has taken the Surrey man’s wicket. 

Pope lbw b Lyon 31

Lyon continues and continues round the wicket and England continue to milk the ones with ease. Four runs (two singles and a two) are followed up with a four down the ground from Pope who uses his feet brilliantly. 

Then last ball of the over Lyon gets one to turn and it wraps Pope on the pads. The Australians are confident - it’s not given though and Patsy Cummins reviews...

The Hawk Eye confirms it is indeed out and didn’t as many, including the umpire, thought pitch outside let. 

FOW- 92/2

Cummins brings himself back on - he needs to inject some impetus into this Australia performance which, like the pitch, is all too flat at the moment. The runs keep coming, five off the over without a shot played in anger. This easy rotation of the strike will be, I imagine, frustrating the tourists. But the field set does allow it...

Extraordinary moment, there: a replay reveals that Zak Crawley actually nicked a Scott Boland ripper behind in the last over. A little feather, but no appeal, and no consideration of a review. Crawley had 40 at the time. 

Mark Taylor is suggesting that  Crawley edged behind with that false shot the previous over. The replay and technology confirms Tubbs’ hunch. The Australians didn’t appeal, there wasn’t even a hint of an appeal and the replay also shows that Crawley has a wry grin on his face. Four from that Lyon over. 

It’s all too easy for England that the moment, a lot more so when the tourists aren’t going to appeal for nicks...

Crawley plays an elegant, in-control backward drive for four off Boland - I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he’s looking good. 

As I type that the opener then tries to whip one from off stump to mid-wicket and misses the ball completely. That ball took off and that was also Crawley’s first false shot of the morning. 

A thick inside edge for one completes the over. England are still going as five an over. 

In the 14th over of this series Nathan Lyon was bowling with four men around the boundary! Help yourselves to singles, England

Mark ‘Tubbs’ Taylor (who doesn’t love the former Australia captain? If you have you have your hand up then shame on you) is pointing out on Sky Sport commentary that the directive for flat wickets has helped Crawley. The ball hasn’t moved off the pitch and allowed the opener to playing himself in with a mixture of singles and elegant, imperious drives. 

Also by going defensive so early there are plenty of singles out there, three come off this Lyon over. 

The Edgbaston pitch is an all-time belter.Whatever happens hereon, Zak Crawley has set exactly the right tone: “we are no longer afraid of you Australia.” He has looked calm, composed and authoritative when cover-driving the first ball of the series and the first ball after Alex Carey had stood up to Scott Boland.Australia have made a mistake in leaving out Mitchell Starc if he is their best reverse-swinger, because the whole square is dry.

Three singles are followed by yet another brilliant, crisp, oh-so-good-to-watch Crawley drive for four. He’s not played a false shot, not wafted at one way outside off peg (so often his undoing...). He’s just played solidly and waited for the opportunity to go on the attack. Great to watch. 

Four singles come off the first five deliveries before Lyon, coming round the wicket, gets one to turn back into Crawley. The England opener does well to get a bit of bat on that before preventing the ball from hitting the stumps with his pads. 

Two singles get this Boland over under way before another follows, down to third man, the fourth ball. That brings up the 50, it’s come at a run a minute, which, if I am not mistaken, is slow going for them (it’s all relative...!). Carey then comes up to the wicket, the England men standing outside the crease to Boland, but that doesn’t bother Crawley one iota, he smacks the next ball for four through the covers. That’s another statement of intent from the opener, who, and once again I stress, I do not want to tempt fate, is looking good out there. 

Nine overs in and Nathan Lyon into the attack. Fascinating move but understand Pat Cummins’ thinking: a way of changing the tempo. Lyon got 6-49 here four years ago to win the Test on the final day. 

Only 45 minutes into the series and already it’s time for Lyon. He’s bowling to Pope who didn’t have a good time against the offie Down Under last time out. Lyon gets one to keep low second ball that the Surrey man does well to keep out. There then follows two reverse sweeps for one - it’s clear England will try to take him on, as and when he allows. This could make for an fascinating contest among a crowded field of them! 

The last ball of the over is overpitched and Crawley goes after it and he does it well, driving down the ground for four. 

It’s time for Scott Boland, the tormentor of England at the MCG some 18 months ago. He’s got 33 Test scalps at just 14 so far. He looks far from menacing but he is metronomic, will make the batsmen play and be at them all the time. He’s one of those Australian bowlers who reminds you of Damian Fleming and Paul Reiffel from the 1990s - far from flash but dangerous to underestimate. 

Boland finds his line and length straight away, with Crawley given very little to work with. The England man defends well before driving a slightly overpitched delivery. That goes for two with the defensive field still in action. Last ball beats Crawley all ends up - a beauty that held its line and flirted with the outside edge. A good opening over from Boland. 

Hazlewood looks as though he’s is finding some rhythm here - he’s getting movement away and good carry through to Carey. That is until Pope then cuts him imperiously for four. That’s a confident shot and one that’s followed up with a two to leg.  

This pitch is flat BUT it’s not quick. Cummins finds the edge of Crawley’s bat but it doesn’t carry to second slip. The cordon may well need to step up a bit. A Crawley single gets Pope on strike and he too is able to dab one to cover and add another run. Two from the over. 

Don’t want to tempt fate, but Crawley is looking good out there. He hasn’t played a false shot and is getting behind the ball well. A single for the Kent opener gets Pope on strike and the Surrey man defends two Hazlewood balls before pushes for a one to leg. It looks as though the plan to Pope is to try get him across his stumps and bring lbw into play. 

Crawley adds another single and he finds the middle of his bat once again with a clip to deep backward square. 

Duckett fell into the trap. No fielder saving a single at cover or point so he was tempted to force a widish ball and edged. In pre-Bazball days England’s lefthanded opening batsman would have let the ball pass through to the keeper, but Duckett has left only eight balls since his Test recall.

Two singles get this over under way. There are plenty of singles out there thanks to the fairly defensive field set by Cummins. The tourists are seemingly keen to allow rotation of the strike but stop the boundaries...

Another Crawley single follows before Pope scampers a two. While the fours aren’t coming the runs are still flowing for England - five from the over. 

It’s been an eventful opening - runs and now the opening wicket. That was the way many thought the Australians would try to get Duckett out and it’s worked early on. 

Will England continue to go aggressive after that early scalp for the tourists? 

Duckett c Carey B Hazlewood 12

The left-handed opener nearly chops one onto his stumps the ball before. But Hazlewood definitely has his man as he tempts Duckett with one slanted across him. The opener likes to play square of the wicket and he tries to cut one that wasn’t really there to cut and edges behind to Carey with the gloves. 

FOW - 22/1

If you’re an England fan, sit back and enjoy! 

Fine start from England on a fine pitch. Duckett finds his first boundary with a well-timed clip off his pads for four to mid-wicket. And Cummins is adjusting the field again - the Australians have already defensive and this is just the start Stokes and Co would have wanted. 

Offside sweeper for both batsmen in the first two overs! Australia with half a mind on containment already!

It’s Hazlewood with the new ball, as expected, and first ball Crawley flicks up off his pads for four. It looks like a fine pitch. Even this early one it’s clear to see the ball coming onto the bat and the under-pressure opener is able to play his shots. 

Already the tourists have a deep-backward cover and Ricky Ponting on Sky Sports commentary asking for a deep backward square. And as I type Cummins has taken out third slip...interesting and, already a complete contrast to the start of the last Ashes Down Under. 

Crawley is on the attack again fifth ball, this time the drive is met by Lyon at that deep backward square position. The over ends with a Duckett single. 

VERY early days, I know, but England are going at five an over...

How will Bazball stand up to this fine Australian attack? We about to find out...

It’s Pat Cummins to Crawley and first ball is pitched up and...it’s crunched through extra cover for four! What a statement of intent, what a shot! The first ball of the Ashes have, in the past, set the tone for the rest of the series (think Harmison wide in 2006, and Burns clean bowled in 2021, and think the great Michael Slater thrashing a good Phil Defreitas ball for four in 1994) England will doubtless hope that that’s the case this time after that fine cover drive. 

The next two balls are left outside off stump, before Crawley dabs one to the side of gully, he wants the single but Duckett sends him back. The opener then pushes to mid-on for a single. 

A good start for England. 

All the talk is done and we’re about to get under way. 

I am pretty sure it’s not just me...

There’s a minute’s silence to remember the victims of the Nottingham attacks earlier this week — Ian Coates and students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar. Webber and O’Malley-Kumar were two keen and talented cricketers. England are wearing black armbands in their memory. 

After two rousing renditions of the national anthems we are now moments away from the first ball. 

In a few minutes, Zak Crawley will face the first ball of the series. Justin Langer did that a couple of times, in 2005 and 2006/07, when Steve Harmison bowled that ball.

He’s been reminiscing about the experience this week

Deathly silence.

That’s what greeted me when I faced the first ball of the 2005 Ashes series at Lords. England fast bowler Stephen Harmison sprinted in to bowl from the pavilion end of the world’s most famous cricket ground. His heart would have been pumping through his chest, as was mine. We both knew we were alive at that very moment.

Unlike any other ground, the response from the crowd was the opposite to anything I had experienced before. When you open the batting and take the first ball in a Test match, the noise can be deafening, but also an ally. The crowd’s anticipation comes in the form of clapping, shouting, banging and whistly. The orchestra of sound gives you energy. The feeling is addictive. Invigorating.

That morning at Lords was so strange. No noise, just silence. The moment was tangible.

Records are made to be broken, aren’t they? And the stats are that all of England’s top three have a poor red-ball record at Edgbaston:

Crawley: 12 innings, 358 runs, highest score 108, average 29.8

Duckett: Three inns, 79 runs, hs 46, average 26.3

Pope: Six inns, 118 runs, hs 58, average 19.6

But they will have scored plenty of white-ball runs at Edgbaston of course...

A quick word on our very own Scyld Berry. 

This on one of the finest cricketing scribes, by Nick Hoult. 

This is the 24th Ashes series for the Telegraph’s resident doyen, Scyld Berry. He’s too shy to mention it. It is also 50 years since his first Telegraph assignment, making tea for the legendary correspondent EW Swanton. The thing with Scyld, is that after all these years his enthusiasm and love for the game has never dimmed.

Looking at that Australia team, I am glad I no longer have to be a selector. It’s a tough call on Mitchell Starc. He has been outstanding since the last Ashes here in the UK. It would have been a hard conversation with him. But a squad mentality will be key for both teams this series with five Tests in six weeks.

I’ve been out in the middle as part of the broadcast, and I’ll say this: the pitch looks an absolute beauty for batting. It’s dry as a bone. 

Phew...for all the talk of this England side preferring to chase it would have been a HUUUUUGE call to insert the Australians on what looks to be a lovely, true, flat, score-as-many-runs-on-me-as-you-like wicket. 

Confirms that the only change from the Australia XI that beat India last week is Hazlewood in for Starc. So the Mitch Marsh thing was a bit of teasing from the tourists. 

“We’ll have to rotate the bowlers a lot this series. It’s a bit harsh on Mitch but we’ll need to manage the attack [over the next six weeks].”

He also, unsurprisingly, reveals he would have batted had he won the toss. 

“It looks a good wicket. Our aim is to stay very level, block out the noise and play as we want...it’s great to have [Moeen Ali] back...I’ve seen Mo produced some of his great days in an England shirt and its great to have him in the side...Hopefully this is the start of a great six weeks.” 

Well, I reckon they will attack from the off and we’ll all be thoroughly entertained.

But don’t take my word for it, here’s Jimmy Anderson...

Having a bet on the first test? Find the best Ashes free bets to use throughout the five days. 

Here are the pre-toss thoughts of Telegraph Sports own cricketing deadly duo, Nick Hoult and Will Macpherson. As they say, it’s the first day of the Ashes and ‘isn’t it great to be alive?’ I couldn’t have put it better...

The Mitch Marsh chat among our Aussie mates has calmed down a bit. Marsh is a wind-up merchant. It seems that Mitch Starc misses out, and Hazlewood plays. Cummins, Hazlewood, Boland, Green, Lyon - what an attack that is. We’ll find out officially at the toss in 20 minutes. 

...is how do England get Steve Smith out? He’s haunted them since his first Ashes Test 10 years ago. He averages 59.69 against England and, here’s the big thing, averages 60.71 in England. If you’ve been around for the past 50 years you are well used to seeing Australians having good averages against their arch-rival, but never with the average being better away from home. 

He’s a brilliant, if idiosyncratic, batsman and if he accumulates runs this series as he’s done before Ben Stokes and Co could well be up against it...

Here’s our very own Tim Wigmore on How do England get Steve Smith out.

The sun is out, there’s been little rain over the past few weeks — surely it’s a bat-first wicket? 

Well, Stokes has been at pains to point out that his England are a ‘chasing side’. So regardless of who wins calls the coin correctly, Australia will bat first? 

KP is on Sky Sports commentary duty and, alluding to the fact that England have been ‘chasers’ this past year, said: “It has to be a bat-first wicket although they chased late 300s against India here last year, so what do we know?!”

Adding to the confusion Hazlewood has now just walked onto the ground and marked out his run-up! Appears Starc has missed out. Mitch Marsh marking out his run is a mystery! #Ashes

— Malcolm Conn (@malcolmconn) June 16, 2023

Good morning from sunny Edgbaston! Not a cloud in the sky as the players warm up (you won’t be surprised to hear that England have the football out). 

Our eagle-eyed Aussie colleagues are very excited because they have spotted Mitchell Marsh marking his run up, suggesting that he could play. If he does, it would be one of the most extraordinary selection shocks in recent memory. Surely not. 

...that the England players have been wearing this week? 

Well, England have been putting on a festival of cricket these past 12 months and so, perhaps, the attire is more appropriate than many might assume..? 

There is never an Ashes that is not ‘much-anticipated’. The nature of the contest, rivalry and history of the epic battle means that, if you’re in anyway like me, fans are always like kids on Christmas Eve ahead of the first ball.

BUT (and I am sure you were expecting that word) there is something about this summer’s series that sets it apart from recent England vs Australia contests. Bazball against the World Test Champions; the hosts up against the side that once again humiliated them Down Under barely 16 months ago — there are sub-plots and over-arching narratives that dominate and fascinate in equal measure.

There is, also, more than a general feeling that Ben Stokes and Co are this time more than a match for Pat Cummins’ side. Since Brendon McCullum joined forces with Stokes England have won 11 of 13 Tests playing with a freedom and daring-do attitude that is more associated with T20. It has made for great viewing, and reinvigorated not just the game in the country, but also across the world.

Added up all that means this is the most-anticipated Ashes since 2005, when there was similar feeling about England’s chances ahead of the opener.

Such has been the excitement about the England side over the past 12 months that