The opening Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series has already delivered drama, records, and a storm of early wickets, with Mitchell Starc and Zak Crawley unintentionally scripting one of the most unusual starts in Test cricket history.

Day 2 at Optus Stadium began almost as a mirror image of Day 1. England’s opener Zak Crawley, who was dismissed for a duck in the first innings, once again fell early, this time in spectacular fashion, as Starc dived low in his follow-through to complete a one-handed return catch. With that moment, Crawley secured the unwanted milestone of recording a pair in the match, while Starc reinforced his growing legend as one of the most lethal Ashes bowlers of the modern era.

A Sequence Never Seen Before

While individual failures often dominate scorecards, this Test has produced something far rarer, a statistical anomaly never recorded in 147 years of Test cricket.

For each of the first three innings of the match, a wicket fell before a single run had been scored. England began the trend with Crawley’s early exit in their first innings. Australia then followed with the same fate in their reply. And now, Crawley’s second-innings dismissal cemented this Test as the first in history where all opening wickets of the first three innings fell at 0-1.

Rarely does cricket serve moments that unite historians, statisticians, and stunned spectators, but this match has managed exactly that. 

Playing XIs

Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith(c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Brendan Doggett, Scott Boland

England (Playing XI): Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood