Ashes first Test ratings: The England star handed ZERO who has one Test to save his career – and the Australia hero who almost scored the perfect ten
England endured a humiliating start to the Ashes as Ben Stokes’ side suffered a batting collapse to lose the first Test by eight wickets to Australia.
Having been 99 runs ahead with nine second-innings wickets in hand at lunch, England fell apart to leave Australia chasing just 205 to take an early advantage in the series.
Travis Head inspired Australia to victory by scoring 123 off 83 balls, leaving Stokes side humbled.
Daily Mail Sport’s Lawrence Booth rates the players from Australia’s dominant triumph in Perth.
England endured a humbling start to the Ashes with Ben Stokes side beaten by eight wickets
Travis Head inspired Australia to victory by scoring 123 runs after England’s batting collapse
England
Zak Crawley – 0 An 11-ball pair, in which he twice failed to survive Starc’s opening over, means Crawley should have no more than one Test to save his career. Many believe he’s lucky to have got this far.
Ben Duckett – 5 Twice did the hard work of getting into the twenties, and was instrumental in hitting Boland off his line on the first morning. But England needed more from a player with aspirations to be the world’s best opener.
Ollie Pope – 6 Made England’s second-highest score in both innings, but 46 and 33 felt wasteful. His loose drive in the second innings triggered a terminal collapse.
Joe Root – 1 The world’s No 1 batsman made a disastrous start to his quest for a first hundred in Australia, scoring nought and eight. Starc now has him in his sights.
Harry Brook – 5.5 Chanced his arm spectacularly in the first innings, when he tried to hit Australia’s seamers off their length, but played a dreadful drive in the second.
Zak Crawley should have one Test to save his career after the opener’s 11-ball pair
Joe Root had a disastrous start to his quest for a first hundred in Australia scoring nought and eight
Ben Stokes – 6 His high-octane five-for on the first evening was sandwiched by a pair of batting failures courtesy of Starc. Stokes’s total of eight runs was his lowest in 25 Ashes Tests.
Jamie Smith – 6 His match aggregate of 48 runs from 47 balls contained some brutal strokes, but he was left with the tail in the first innings, and received a questionable decision in the second.
Gus Atkinson – 6 Bowled beautifully with the new ball on the first day, and threw the bat to good effect on the second. But he finished wicketless and took a pounding from Head.
Brydon Carse – 6.5 Worked over Smith and Khawaja in the first innings, and batted with gumption on day two, when he took England’s only two wickets.
Jofra Archer – 6.5 Spearheaded England’s electrifying assault on the first evening by taking care of Australia’s openers, but couldn’t reproduce the energy second time round.
Mark Wood – 6 Sent down 11 frighteningly fast overs, and unsettled Australia by hitting Green on the head. But he managed no wickets, and had no answer to Head.
Jofra Archer spearheaded England’s assault for Australia’s first innings, but could not reproduced the same energy second time around
Australia
Jake Weatherald – 5 Utterly defeated by Archer in his first Test innings, he rode in Head’s slipstream in his second during a stand of 75.
Marnus Labuschagne – 7 Looked all at sea as a makeshift opener, but contributed to England’s last-afternoon humiliation from his preferred slot at No 3.
Steve Smith – 5 Forced out of his comfort zone by England’s quicks, but finished with another Ashes win under his belt.
Usman Khawaja – 1 Played golf for three days, then suffered back spasms, forcing Australia to rejig their order. When he did bat, he could nothing against a snorter from Carse.
Travis Head – 9 Part of Australia’s first-innings procession, but then played the innings of a lifetime – 123 off 83 balls – to make mincement of a target of 205. What a player.
Cameron Green – 6 Took the important wicket of Pope just before lunch on the first morning, and looked compact with the bat before falling for 24.
Usman Khawaja’s back spasms after three days of golf forced Australia to rejig their order, while he could do nothing about a snorter from Carse
Head played the innings of a lifetime as the batsman made mincemeat of the target of 205
Mitchell Starc almost singlehandedly bowled England out on the first day and ended with 10 in the match
Alex Carey – 6 Top-scored in Australia’s first innings with 26, and kept unobtrusively.
Mitchell Starc – 9.5 Almost singlehandedly bowled England out on the first day, and finished with 10 in the match – including Root and Stokes twice each. A masterful performance.
Nathan Lyon – 5 The game’s most peripheral player bowled two overs of off-spin, amid rumours Smith wanted to pick an extra seamer instead.
Scott Boland – 7 Easily hit off his length in the first innings, he recovered superbly after lunch on the second day in a spell of three for 10 off seven overs.
Brendan Doggett – 7 Owed three of his five wickets on debut to leg-side strangles of one sort or other, but held his end up in the absence of Cummins and Hazlewood.
