BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 08: Rory Burns of England is clean bowled by Mitchell Starc of Australia during day one of the First Test Match in the Ashes series between Australia and England at The Gabba on December 08, 2021 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
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“Begin as you mean to go on,” said the world-renowned British preacher, Charles Spurgeon. Getting in the first strike or stroke in the Ashes can send out a powerful message to the congregation on the pitch when battle commences at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Friday.
Here are six first-ballers that sent Ashes hopes soaring for one side and sliding for the other.
1) Shane Warne’s Ball Of The Century Sends Gatting Back For An Early Lunch (1993 Ashes)
Mike Gatting, aka Henry VIII, had seen it all before as he walked to the crease at Old Trafford in the 1993 series. The English batter faced a beach blond 23-year-old from Victoria with an equally voracious appetite. This was popcorn viewing. Or prawn sandwich viewing in Roy Keane terminology.
The 1986-87 Ashes-winning skipper looked aghast as a fizzing leg break danced from outside leg stump to flick the off bail. The cherry had exploded. England were mesmerized, Warne took 34 wickets, and the home side lost the series 4-1.
“I’m happy to have been bowled by it because had it been some blond bloke who only played about 10 Test matches and got 27 wickets, then I would have been really upset,” Gatting remarked. Warne ended with 708, 195 of which came against the old enemy.
2) Michael Slater Hits A Boundary At Brisbane And England Sighs (1994-95 Ashes)
The late Raymond Illingworth was a fantastic cricketer, but a rather inflexible chairman of selectors as he brought a fortysomething Graham Gooch on tour alongside a portly 37-year-old Gatting.
Devon Malcolm had taken nine wickets against the Proteas in a massacre at the Oval in August. “You lot are history,” said Malcolm, before smashing their bodies, stumps and pads. Unfortunately, he came down with chickenpox down under, leaving Phil DeFreitas to open things up.
That ultra fidgeter, Michael Slater, hit the first nut between gully and point for a boundary at the Gabba and went on to score 176. England were history. Same old, same old.
3) Steve Harmison Whistles One Past Langer’s Head At Lord’s In Greatest Ashes Series (2005 Ashes)
Just like there was “good and bad” Goran Ivanisevic, Harmison was prone to some enormous dips as the cricket world would find out sixteen months later. However, he was the speed demon of the England team, having savaged the West Indies the previous year in the Caribbean.
The 2005 Ashes saw cricket kick football off the English tabloid back pages for one glorious summer. Harmison’s hostile opener to Justin Langer at Lord’s started the rollercoaster. “The first ball flew past my nose…Matty Hayden walks down to me and said ‘These guys are up. They are on,” said Langer. The second ball smashed into his elbow.
English cricket wasn’t afraid anymore. Well, until…
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 23: The first ball of the series bowled by Steven Harmison of England to Justin Langer of Australia heads towards Andrew Flintoff of England at second slip during day one of the first Ashes Test Match between Australia and England at The Gabba on November 23, 2006 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)
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4) Steve Harmison Bowls The Widest Wide At Brisbane (2006-07 Ashes)
After the glorious 2-1 win ended 16 years of hurt in 2005, England coach Duncan Fletcher wanted to recreate the magic down under for the return series.
Unfortunately, spiritual leader Michael Vaughan was crocked, Marcus Trescothick went home after a stress-related illness (one of the crueler Aussie flags read “Stresscothick”), and Harmison couldn’t bowl straight.
The big Durham paceman landed the first ball of the Brisbane Test to second slip, where new captain Flintoff fielded. Everything deflated from there. Harmison said later he was trying too hard. England was eviscerated 5-0. )
5) Rory Burns Bowled Around His Legs At Brisbane In Starc Technicolor (2021-22 Ashes)
Rory Burns was the latest in the line of England openers who were struggling to replace Alastair Cook at the top of the order. Still, the Surrey batsman had averaged almost 40 in the 2019 series, but the 2021/22 Ashes tour was a shambles for English management under the dark shadow of Covid-19 restrictions.
Burns faced the first ball from Mitchell Starc, but wandered too far across his crease. Starc’s inswinger clunked into leg stump, and the miserable procession of batsmen walking back to the pavilion had begun. England were bowled out for 147 and lost the Ashes 4-0.
6) Zak Crawley Creams The Cover Drive At Edgbaston (2023 Ashes)
Bazball 1.0 had been busy mowing down teams left, right and center as Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes introduced a firebrand form of Test cricket. Australia was a different Great White Shark, but Stokes wanted to charge headfirst into its jaws.
Zak Crawley threw his hands at Pat Cummins’ first delivery in the opener at Edgbaston. It hit the middle of the bat and skidded through the covers, much to the bemusement of a smiling captain on the balcony. Crawley topped the run charts for the home side, although the Ashes didn’t come home.
21 November at Perth could be another memorable Ashes opening.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timellis/2025/11/19/famous-ashes-opening-acts-including-ball-of-the-century-and-harmisons-wide/
