Vince and Stoneman draw the Gabba sting

England 59 for 1 (Stoneman 25*, Vince 32*) v Australia
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Ashes trash talk reaches fever pitch

Two of the foremost members of England’s squad of “Un-name-ables” set about making their presence known on the first morning of the 2017-18 Ashes, as Mark Stoneman and James Vince made light of the early loss of Alastair Cook to carry their side to 59 for 1 by lunch and draw a line under the hype and the trash-talk that has once again dominated the build-up to a hugely anticipated contest.

With their complementary left-hand/right-hand approaches, Vince and Stoneman drew the sting of Australia’s pace trio, before playing watchfully through to lunch against the offspin of Nathan Lyon, who found some unusual purchase for the first morning of a Gabba Test, on a wicket that clearly lacked the venom of some of Kevin Mitchell Jr’s predecessors in his 33 years as Queensland’s groundsman.

Nevertheless, under overcast skies and with palpable humidity in the air, there might have been a hint of a temptation for England’s captain, Joe Root, to bowl first after winning the toss – not that such a course of action is remotely acceptable in Ashes contests these days, given what happened when Nasser Hussain went down that route in 2002-03.

Instead, Root trusted in his untested top order to deliver the goods, and in pushing their way through to a 57-run stand by lunch, they by and large succeeded.

With Stoneman showcasing excellent judgement outside off, the eye-catching strokeplay was left to the recalled Vince, whose Test career had appeared dead in the water when he was dropped after the 2016 home summer, with 212 runs at 19.27 to his name.

The selectors evidently saw something in the quality of his shot-making that deserved a second chance, and in reaching 32 not out in the first session, he was living up his lofty No.3 billing with some aplomb. With Australia’s three seamers favouring a full-length approach, there was ample opportunity for Vince to unfurl his favourite cover drive, and one stroke in particular – off Josh Hazlewood in the 11th over – evoked memories of Michael Vaughan’s tour de force in this country 15 years ago.

Vince had arrived at the crease with more haste than he might have hoped, following Cook’s departure in only the third over of the morning. Mitchell Starc was his nemesis, probing relentlessly on and around off stump and repelled, for the most part, with that familiar raise of the bat, the (non-)stroke with which Cook conquered Australia in the summer of 2010-11.

However, after picking off his first runs through third man with stereotypical ease, Cook had no answer as Starc tightened his line onto the top of off stump, and induced a fateful snick through to Peter Handscomb at first slip. He was gone for 2, and England were 2 for 1.

Astonishingly, for all the talk of Australia’s latest fire-breathing trio of fast bowlers, none of Starc, Hazlewood or Pat Cummins has ever played in a home Ashes Test – England’s attack leader, James Anderson, by contrast, has played in 13 Down Under.

And when Cummins was brought into the attack for the first time in the eighth over, it was the first time he had ever bowled in a home Australia Test, an extraordinarily delayed gratification for a bowler who first took the world by storm against South Africa in 2011-12.

Cummins turned up the heat, as he had been expected to do, but found little assistance in the wicket as England repelled him with relative ease. It was telling how much time both batsmen had whenever the ball was pitched short, and the biggest concerns that either batsman faced was when the pitch was taken out of the equation entirely, particularly when Starc located a hint of swing for his yorker towards the end of the first hour.

Despite doubts about the fitness of David Warner and Shaun Marsh, both men were passed fit by Australia’s captain, Steve Smith, who admitted he would have batted too, but was happy to see a few threatening clouds lurking overhead to assist his team. He’d have been less happy with the carry through to the keeper, however.

Prior to the toss, Jake Ball was preferred to Craig Overton as England’s fourth seamer, while Cameron Bancroft was confirmed as Australia’s first Ashes debutant since Michael Slater in 1993, and was presented with his baggy green shortly before the toss by Geoff Marsh, a fellow Western Australia opener.

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Source: ESPN Crickinfo