ENG vs AUS: 1st Test, Day 1 – Talking Points

A full house crowd at Edgbaston got their money’s worth as they witnessed an entertaining opening day of the series. The much-anticipated Ashes kicked off in Birmingham as influential English skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first on a flat surface at Edgbaston.

English opener Zak Crawley extinguished all the pre-match talk about England’s approach after creaming Pat Cumming for a boundary on the very first delivery of the series. England were adamant with their ‘Bazball’ approach despite the visitors chipping away at wickets every now and then.

While Crawley laid the foundation with a brisk half-century in the first session, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow’s belligerent partnership put the hosts in command. Australian bowlers tried their level best on a benign surface in Birmingham, but there was no stopping the English juggernaut, especially with former skipper Joe Root looking in sublime touch.

At the end of Day 1, Australia stood 14 for no loss in response to England’s 393/8d.

Here are the talking points from Day 1 of the first Test

Sticking to the roots

Former England skipper Joe Root is thriving in the red-ball side’s all-out attack policy. The batting maestro kept his composure while England’s top-order batters cut loose against the Australian bowlers. While there was the occasional reverse ramp that Root has perfected in the last couple of years, he stuck to the basics for most of the innings. But once the eye-pleasing stroke maker breached the three-figure mark (118 off 152), Root opened his shoulders against Nathan Lyon.

A bold declaration

Joe Root’s wonderful century was edging the opening day in favour of the hosts before England skipper Ben Stokes called for a bold declaration, at 393/8. Any other team would have continued to milk runs against a tired bowling unit, but not England, not under Brendon McCullum’s watch. However, Australia stood their ground to tackle four overs from the English seamers without any harm.

Horses for courses

Australia skipper Pat Cummins shocked a fair few at the toss when he revealed that the visitors won’t be availing Mitchell Starc’s services in the series opener. It seemed like a bewildering decision at the time but as the day progressed, people saw the logic behind Australia’s decision. The surface at Edgbaston is as flat as they come and given Starc’s recent record in England, it was a wise decision from the Aussies.