Pat Cummins
started his captaincy era with a fifer on the opening day of the Ashes series at
the Gabba, Brisbane on Wednesday as England were skittled 147 by a ruthless
Australian pace attack.

The hosts
could not have asked for a better start as a swinging Mitchell Starc yorker removed
opener Rory Burns’ leg stump on the very first delivery of the series after
skipper Joe Root decided to bat on a greenish surface that was aiding the bowlers.

Josh Hazlewood
got the prized wicket of Root for a duck after removing Dawid Malan
(6) cheaply as England were reeling at 11 for the loss of three.

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Cummins got
into the act with the wickets of Ben Stokes (5) and Haseeb Hameed (25) before Jos
Buttler (39) and Ollie Pope (35) shared a 52-run stand to give the visitors
some respite. 

England’s joy
was short-lived, however, as Starc hit back to remove Buttler before
22-year-old Cameron Green dismissed Pope. Cummins ran through the rest of the
tail, including the only other Englishman to get to double figures – Chris
Woakes (21), to complete the sixth fifer of his Test career and cap two
sessions of dominance from Australia.

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The fiery Aussies
bowling was aided by some sound catching, with debutant Alex Carey – former
skipper Tim Paine’s replacement behind the stumps – taking three catches and
Hazlewood’s impressive effort at long leg giving Green his first Test wicket.

The day’s
play was cut short due to a storm, causing the final session to be abandoned. The
second day’s play on Thursday will start 30 minutes earlier than scheduled.

England
will look to hit back on Day 2, although they are without two of their leading
wicket-takers in Tests – Stuart Board and James Anderson – the first time in 15
years that the Three Lions are playing an Ashes Test without at least one of
them.