Australia vs England – The Ashes LIVE: The Aussies strike instantly with a wicket within the first over

A minor surprise with Scott Boland taking the new ball instead of the debutant Brendan Doggett. A tidy over with some runs off it, as England look to rebuild all over again

The perfect opening over from the Aussie veteran Starc, finding movement and variety, eventually catching England opener Crawley flashing at a wide ball and producing the nick.

Daily Mail cricket correspondent Lawrence Booth at Optus Stadium writes:

What’s that they say about not driving with an angled bat in Australia? Zak Crawley wasn’t listening. Having got away with a loose drive to his third ball, he poked at his sixth, and Usman Khawaja did the rest at first slip. Mitchell Starc struck with the first ball in the 2021-22 Ashes. Now he’s struck in the first over.

Mitchell Starc asking early questions with full deliveries and a mix of swing and balls that held their line, enticing Crawley into some false shots. Then the breakthrough, catches the edge, straight into the breadbasket of Khawaja at slip and the English opener has to go, without troubling the scorers

Mitchell Starc sends the first ball down and it is met with solid defence from Crawley. The Ashes have commenced!

Ricky Ponting says these openers are England’s ‘most important on this tour’

Dr Richard Waller delivered the Welcome to Country ceremony with first nation musicians, with the packed house remaining respectful throughout and delivering warm applause afterwards

A cheer went up when Stokes revealed England would bat first, emphasising the healthy away support in the crowd. It was also something of a surprise given that Stokes has generally favoured bowling first throughout his tenure as captain.

That’s Ricky Ponting’s take, favouring the debutant over the more experienced Scott Boland as he’s ‘more of a new-ball bowler’.

‘I was a little bit surprised, particularly with the team make-up, but I think it’s the right decision,’ Broad said, pointing out that Stokes is historically a bowl-first skipper. He also called it a brave call batting first without a spinner in the Lions XI.

You can hear the England fans roar as the skipper makes his choice. It’s his first time skippering the side in Australia, and he confirmed their bowling attack will consist of ‘four seamers plus myself’. Stokes hailed Wood for ‘working incredibly hard’ and is optimistic about his partnership with Archer.

Steve Smith said he would have batted had he won the toss.

Scott Boland has just presented Brendan Doggett with his baggy green cap on the field in Perth. Today marks the first time the home side has played two Indigenous players – Boland and Doggett – in the XI.

Last year’s Test between Australia and India at Perth Stadium saw 17 wickets fall on day one. Don’t look for a repeat of that today, with commentators comparing the current wicket to the strip on day two of last year’s series-opening contest – still plenty in it for the bowlers, but not as wild as last November, when India made 150 and Australia just 104 in their first innings.