Mitchell Starc owned the first session of the first Test of the Ashes 2025/26. England won the toss and chose to bat first. The plan did not work.
Starc struck in the first over. He sent back Zak Crawley with a scrambled seam ball that moved away. He then trapped Ben Duckett with a swinging delivery. Soon after, he removed Joe Root for a seven-ball duck.
Mitchell Starc reached a major mark. He took his 100th Ashes wicket. He became the 21st bowler to take 100 or more wickets in Ashes history. He is also the 13th Australian to reach this mark. He needed only 23 Tests to get there.
Starc also drew level with Curtly Ambrose on 405 Test wickets. He now stands close to Wasim Akram’s record for most Test wickets by a left-arm fast bowler. Akram finished with 414 wickets in 104 Tests.
This Test is Starc’s 100th. He has also scored 2,322 runs with 11 fifties. His highest score is 99.
England reached 105 for 4 in 23 overs by the end of the first session.
