Starc strikes twice before Crawley and Root guide England’s recovery in 2nd Ashes test

By Canadian Press on December 3, 2025.

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Zac Crawley survived Mitchell Starc’s two-wicket opening burst to post an unbeaten half-century and combined with Joe Root to guide England to 98-2 at the first interval in the second Ashes cricket test against Australia.

Starc struck twice in four deliveries to have England reeling at 5-2 in the third over of the day-night test Thursday in a continuation of his dominance over the batters from Australia’s series-opening eight-wicket win in Perth.

Crawley, who was dismissed without scoring in both innings in the first test, played and missed twice at the Gabba before getting off the mark with a boundary and then a single off Starc.

Ben Duckett was out for a first-ball duck, well caught at ankle height by Marnus Labuschagne at slip, on the sixth delivery of the match. It was the 26th time Starc has taken a wicket in the first over of a test match innings.

Ollie Pope faced two balls from Starc before dragging the third onto his own stumps to have England reeling in the third over.

With those dismissals, Starc moved equal with Pakistan great Wasim Akram on 414 career wickets as the most successful left-arm pace bowlers in test history.

Root had a reprieve on two when he edged Starc and Steve Smith missed a difficult chance lunging across from second slip and deflecting the ball to the boundary.

Crawley gave Starc a half-chance when he drove uppishly past the paceman for a boundary, and he may also have had a let off when the Australians decided not to review when Michael Neser appealed for a caught behind.

Scott Boland missed a chance for a sharp return catch when Crawley drove straight back at the bowler and moved to 43 with a boundary down the ground.

The England opener remained calm and, after taking a single off Starc to reach his 50 from 68 deliveries, slowly raised his bat to acknowledge the Barmy Army supporters in the crowd. He was not out 61 at the break. Root was 32 not out off 60 balls.

The 93-run third-wicket partnership backed Ben Stokes’ decision to bat first for the second time in the series, aiming to get England’s Ashes campaign on track.

The day-night match began in warm, sunny conditions with Australia’s all-pace attack getting first use of the pink ball and generating some early movement off the seam and extra bounce.

But after the early salvos, the pitch settled down and suited England’s attacking mindset, with Crawley and Root keeping the run-rate above 4 per over.

The most contentious selection of the series so far was Australia’s choice to recall Neser in a five-man pace attack in Brisbane at the expense of spinner Nathan Lyon, who missed out for only the second time on home soil since his debut in 2011.

Players from both teams wore black armbands in honor of former England batter Robin Smith, who died this week in Perth, Australia.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

John Pye, The Associated Press