There’s a certain weight to an Ashes tour in Australia, a gravity that pulls at players differently. For Ben Stokes, that pull is personal, etched over three tours and a decade of highs and lows. This tour, his last in Australia, felt like the climax of a long, dramatic story. But as the first day unfolded in Perth, it was clear that Australia, led by a fiery Mitchell Starc, had a brutal plot twist of their own in mind.
Key Highlights
- ✓ Ben Stokes leads England on his final Ashes tour in Australia, a culmination of a long and storied history with the rivalry Down Under.
- ✓ In the first Test in Perth, England won the toss and chose to bat first, fielding an aggressive all-pace attack.
- ✓ Australia's Mitchell Starc delivered a devastating opening spell, taking four wickets, including Zak Crawley, Joe Root, and Ben Stokes.
- ✓ England stumbled to 105/4 at lunch, with Starc claiming figures of 3/23 in the first session alone.
- ✓ Australia entered the series without injured pace duo Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, with Steve Smith returning as captain.
A Journey Forged in Australian Fire
You have to go back to 2013-14 to understand the full arc of Stokes' relationship with this country. He arrived as a rounder, redder-faced 22-year-old, a grafter in a great England team that was quietly starting to implode. It was on that tour, at the WACA, that he blitzed his maiden century—a lone bright spot in a dark series. Every walk he’s taken this week from the team hotel to the new Perth Stadium has taken him past that old ground, a constant reminder of how long he’s been on this road.
His journey since has been anything but linear. A year after that breakthrough, he was bizarrely omitted from the 2015 World Cup squad and found himself at a loose end. So, what did he do? He signed up for a four-match stint with the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League, finding a kindred spirit in James Pattinson and reminding the selectors exactly what they were missing with a blistering 77. They never made that mistake again.
Perhaps the most formative Australian tour for Stokes was the one he never played in. The 2017-18 series, missed due to his suspension following the incident in Bristol, forced him to watch from afar, powerless, as Joe Root's first captaincy tour unraveled. The team was labeled boozy and thuggish, dogged by curfews after off-field incidents involving Jonny Bairstow and Ben Duckett. That absence, that inability to help his mates, clearly stuck with him.
The Captain Who Rose from the Ashes
Fast forward to the COVID-restricted tour of 2021-22, and you see the seeds of the leader Stokes has become. Already 3-0 down, he injured his side with a grade two tear. It was a tour-ender for anyone else, an easy ticket home from a debilitating bubble. But Stokes refused to leave. He famously told his teammates, "I'm not f*ing letting you down." It was a moment of raw defiance, even if it was ultimately futile; Australia romped to a 4-0 series win.
That tour could have broken him. He’d cut short a mental health break just to be there. But instead of breaking, it forged him. He saw the cracks in the despair and, when he was handed the captaincy in April 2022, he knew exactly what needed to change. Alongside Brendon "Baz" McCullum, he set about building a new culture, one built on freedom, empathy, and an unbreakable team bond.
"One big thing me and Baz firmly believe in is, if you create a tight-knit group, not only on the field, but off the field... that's just going to help team morale," Stokes explained. He’s turned the heavy Test shirt into a superhero cape, encouraging his players to express themselves. The result? 22 wins in 36 Tests and a team that genuinely believes they can win anywhere, against anyone. This is, without a doubt, the best version of Ben Stokes to ever arrive in Australia.
Day One: A Brutal Welcome in Perth
With all that history and expectation, the stage was set at the Perth Stadium, a new venue for an Ashes Test. Stokes won the toss and, in a typically aggressive move, chose to bat first on a pitch known for its pace and bounce. He backed his batters and an all-out pace attack, leaving spinner Shoaib Bashir on the sidelines. It was a statement of intent. Unfortunately for England, Mitchell Starc was ready to make a statement of his own.
From the very first over, it was chaos. Starc got one to move away from Zak Crawley, who edged it to the slips for a duck. The tone was set. Ben Duckett tried to counter-punch, in true Bazball fashion, but Starc was relentless. He soon sent Duckett packing, and then came the big one: he trapped Joe Root, who was desperate for his first century in Australia, for a duck. England were in absolute disarray.
Ollie Pope and Harry Brook tried to steady the ship, pushing the score past 100 before lunch. But just after the break, the rampage continued. Starc, who had been setting him up perfectly, angled one back in to castle the captain himself. Stokes was gone. Four wickets for Starc, and England’s ambitious plans were in tatters before the first day was even halfway through. It was a brutal, classic Australian welcome.
An Injured Lion Still Bites Hard
What makes this start even more impressive for Australia is who they're missing. They came into this series without their captain and pace spearhead, Pat Cummins, and his lethal partner, Josh Hazlewood, both out with injuries. They handed debuts to batsman Jake Weatherald and pace bowler Brendan Doggett. With Steve Smith stepping back into the captaincy role, many felt this Aussie side was vulnerable.
But on a bouncy Perth deck, Starc stepped up magnificently, supported by the ever-reliable Scott Boland and a sharp Cameron Green, who claimed the key wicket of a well-set Ollie Pope for 46. Australia’s performance was a stark reminder (pun intended) that even a depleted squad is a fearsome beast in its own backyard. It also marks a historic moment, with debutant Brendan Doggett and Scott Boland becoming the first two players of Indigenous heritage to feature in the same men's Test XI for Australia.
For England, a team that hasn't won a Test in Perth since 1978, this was the worst possible start. Their aggressive brand of cricket is built on putting pressure back on the opposition, but they were the ones gasping for air. The challenge now is to see if that tight-knit culture Stokes has built can withstand the pressure of a classic Ashes trial by fire.
Conclusion
The opening day in Perth has been a story of two incredible forces colliding. On one side, you have Ben Stokes, a captain who has reshaped English cricket through sheer force of will and a deep understanding of his players. On the other, you have the raw, untamable reality of an Ashes Test in Australia, personified by a fired-up Mitchell Starc. This series was always going to be about whether England's revolutionary style could conquer the old fortress. After just one session, it’s clear the fortress isn’t going down without one heck of a fight.
