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12/04 02:58 CST Starc's three wickets jolts England on Day 1 of the 2nd Ashes
test
Starc's three wickets jolts England on Day 1 of the 2nd Ashes test
By JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) --- Mitchell Starc struck for a third time on Day 1 of
the second Ashes test, swinging momentum again for Australia just as England
was settling into an almost conventional rhythm in cricket's longest format.
After removing Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope to have England reeling at 5-2 in the
third over Thursday, Starc returned to dismiss Harry Brook in his first over of
the middle session.
With his 415th career wicket, the 35-year-old Australian surpassed Pakistan
great Wasim Akram (414 from 104 tests) as the most successful left-arm fast
bowler in test cricket.
It was a jolt England could have done without, Brook caught at slip slashing
outside off stump and falling for 31 from 33 balls to end a 54-run
fourth-wicket partnership with Joe Root just as the sun was going down.
Root shared a 117-run stand with Zac Crawley (76) to lift England to 122-3 and
then partnered Brook in another innings-reviving stand.
He was unbeaten on 68 and skipper Ben Stokes was 14 with England at 196-4 at
the end of the second session, ushering England to its highest total of the
series so far following two batting failures in the eight-wicket loss in the
first test at Perth.
Starc took 10 wickets in Perth under standard test conditions.
He's the most prolific bowler ever in day-night test cricket, taking 81 wickets
with the pink ball in 14 matches leading into this one.
With the lights on and the ball starting to shape around, anything could happen
before stumps.
Early going
Stokes won the toss and opted to bat for the second time in the series, and may
have regretted it initially when Duckett was out on the sixth ball --- the 26th
time Starc has taken a wicket in the first over a test innings --- and Pope was
out in the third over.
On the plus side Crawley, who was out for ducks in both innings in Perth,
survived Starc's two-wicket opening burst and posted a half-century in the
first session as England went to the first interval at 98-2.
He got off the mark with a boundary and, apart from two half-chances when he
drove uppishly at Starc and Boland before he'd reached 50, he was composed.
Recalled paceman Michael Neser broke the 117-run third-wicket stand when
Crawley attempted an extravagant pull shot and got an under edge through to the
keeper. He was out for 76 off 93 balls.
No Lyon
The most contentious selection of the series so far was Australia's choice to
recall Neser in a five-man pace attack at the expense of spinner Nathan Lyon,
who missed out for only the second time on home soil since his debut in 2011.
The selection committee later described it as a "once off" because of the
conditions.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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