As England’s five-man bowling unit ran riot on the second half of a helter-skelter opening day at Perth Stadium, the thought occurred that they may never have had at their disposal a more lethal attack.
The Ashes often generate hyperbole, so it pays to be sceptical. But in this instance the excitement hardly seemed misplaced: not since 1909 at Old Trafford have more wickets fallen on the opening day of a Test between these teams than the 19 which tumbled here.
And the manner in which Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Brydon Carse and Ben Stokes – yes, they all deserve a mention – turned English despair at their own batting collapse into delight at Australia’s only encouraged the notion that England can do something special.
Until now, the gold standard for English pace attacks was 2005, though even then the average speed of a quartet including Steve Harmison, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones was brought down by the skilful swing bowling of Matthew Hoggard.
As a unit, they dovetailed beautifully. But they did not pose the persistent, speedgun-rattling menace that was on show on the first day in Perth. Hell, no one has.
England’s past Ashes triumphs have often featured a quick bowler here or there, but they have tended to stand alone from the pack: Harold Larwood in 1932-33, Frank Tyson in 1954-55, John Snow in 1970-71. And when Andrew Strauss’s team won in 2010-11, it was with an attack whose first goal was to strangle Australia into submission, not blow the b****y doors off.
England captain Ben Stokes hit the pitch hard on his way to a five-wicket haul in Perth on Friday
Jofra Archer bowled above 90mph to get rid of opener Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne of Australia
This time, they have arrived in Australia with six men – Josh Tongue is waiting in the wings – capable of touching or breaching 90mph. The weaponry is unprecedented, the promise mouth-watering.
Archer passed the barrier in an opening over that brought him the wicket of Jake Weatherald, and kept it up to get rid of the strokeless Marnus Labuschagne.
At the other end, Atkinson – who has rediscovered the pace with which he took 12 West Indian wickets on his Test debut in the summer of 2024 – was not far behind, beginning with three pacy maidens.
There was no let-up. When Wood, whose inclusion at the expense of off-spinner Shoaib Bashir was not ratified until late on, entered the fray shortly before tea, he might have been the quickest first-change bowler in Test history: 94mph and counting.
The message to Australia was that England would not relent.
Carse kept up his side of the bargain by removing Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja in successive overs, before Stokes applied the icing with a five-for of almost insulting brevity: five wickets for 20 runs in 30 balls.
Had he recovered from the shoulder injury that ruled him out of the crucial fifth Test against India in August? You bet he had.
To a degree, England’s captain cashed in on the chaos caused in the minds of Australia’s batsmen by the barrage that came before. But only to a degree. The reason Travis Head and Starc both slapped him to mid-on, and Alex Carey uppercut him to third man, was because Stokes was carrying out the orders he himself has passed on: smash the wicket hard, he told his bowlers.
Stokes’ approach was not one for faint hearts and the England captain has never been accused of that
Cameron Green is smashed in the helmet by a Mark Wood short ball in Perth on day one
It was not an approach for faint hearts, and Stokes has never been accused of that.
So much of the focus when England arrived here was on their batting. Bazball resides so freely in Australian heads that the ECB could solve any financial problems remaining after the sale of the Hundred franchises by charging them rent. And when the tourists collapsed to 172 against Mitchell Starc, the local online response was understandably gleeful.
But, helpfully perhaps, the compelling nature of England’s batting line-up obscured the other part of the Bazball doctrine: how best to take 20 wickets? And the answer seemed blindingly simple: with pace, accuracy and hostility, all maintained by one bowler after another.
For that, England’s backroom staff should be congratulated. For years, they have looked on in envy at Australia’s ability to get Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Starc fit and ready to go for every big Test series.
This time, the fast-bowling boot is on the other foot. Cummins and Hazlewood are injured, while England have managed their various timelines with the precision of a Swiss watch.
Archer, who missed four years of Test cricket while medics pondered his fragile body, looks reborn in his second coming, while Wood returned to the fray as if his 15-month absence had been a mere inconvenience.
Atkinson, too, is in the groove, having missed all but one of the five India Tests with hamstring trouble, and England have rightly stuck with Carse, despite a mediocre summer in which his nine wickets cost 60 each. As for Stokes, he has carried on where he left off before his shoulder gave way against India, a series in which he was the best bowler on either side.
Can England keep the band together for the whole of a five-match series that will test them to the limit, despite the excitement of the opening day?
Archer removed Labuschagne with a ball that leapt sharply on him and clattered into his stumps via his elbow
And Australia’s Usman Khawaja was dismissed by a brute of a ball from Brydon Carse
Carse took two key Australian wickets, those of Khawaja and stand-in captain Steve Smith
That was never the plan, and yet quick finishes mean more time for recuperation, and there are already eight-day gaps between Perth and Brisbane, and between Brisbane and Adelaide.
Not until the back end of the series, with the last three Tests squeezed into 23 days, will the keeper of the rest-and-rotation spreadsheet earn his crust.
England will do well not to get giddy. Cummins is eyeing the day-night Test at the Gabba, where he should enjoy the pink ball, and Hazlewood remains one of five Australian bowlers in the top 10 of the world rankings. Atkinson, who is joint-ninth, is England’s only presence.
But the ruthlessness with which they forced Australia’s batsmen from their comfort zones, then pounced when their decision-making went inevitably awry, was the work of an attack full of self-belief. And that is as good a starting point as any.
