Australia v England | First Ashes Test | Day One

Australia are hopeful Usman Khawaja will be able to bat again in the Ashes series opener after the veteran’s back spasms prompted a chaotic start to their first encounter with England’s pace brigade.

Injured captain Pat Cummins suggested his side’s top order will regret how they played against a relentless visiting pace attack that has them eyeing off a first Test victory on Australian soil in 15 years.

Khawaja’s back concerns are now another potential injury headache for the Aussie camp. They are already missing Cummins with a back injury, along with Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott to hamstring strains.

Khawaja, after taking a catch at first slip in the first over of the series, was forced from the field while the Aussies were bowling on Friday. The 38-year-old returned at the fall of the eighth England wicket, but the remarkably swift finish to their first innings, losing their last five wickets in three overs, left the hosts in the lurch.

ICC regulations dictate that a player must be back on the field for as long as they spent off it before they are allowed to bat following an initial leeway period of eight minutes.

Jake Weatherald opened with Marnus Labuschagne instead, but the debutant opener was dismissed second ball, still before enough time had elapsed for Khawaja to bat.

It meant regular No.4 Steve Smith, Cummins’ captaincy replacement for this Test, was batting in the first over of the innings along with regular No.3 Labuschagne.

“Uzzie had some back spasms in the field, so he came off and was getting a bit of treatment, some heat in it, stretching on and off,” Cummins, who insisted Khawaja was fully fit leading into the match, told the ABC.

“He got on the wrong side of the timings – a few quick ones at the end meant that he couldn’t bat, he missed it by a few minutes.

“I haven’t seen him since he batted. He obviously went out there and batted and looks like he’s moving okay. Back spasms, I think, are a little bit niggly, but you can kind of get through them.

“Get some anti-inflams (anti-inflammatory drugs) and hopefully he’s all right.”

Australia were still 49 runs behind England at stumps with only one first-innings wicket in hand.

Both Mitchell Starc, who snared his best Test figures on Friday, and Brydon Carse, who dismissed Smith and Khawaja cheaply to aid the visitors’ immense bowling effort after they were rolled for 172, noted the Perth Stadium’s sluggish outfield has made runs even harder to come by.

Comparisons have been made to last year’s summer-opening Test that saw 17 wickets fall on day one before Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal scored third-innings hundreds when the pitch flattened out.

“I think it’s doing enough. I don’t think it probably warranted 19 wickets in a day,” said Cummins.

“There was good bowling at times. Some, of the batters probably wish they had another chance with some of their shots. I think it’s a good wicket… the ball got soft, so maybe (the pitch is) a little harder than last year.

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“All our batters go about it a little bit differently. I think it’s getting that balance right between when you feel like you need to absorb a really good spell.

“They’ve got some high-paced guys, but they’re probably not going to bowl 20, 25 overs in a day. So can you get through those spells? If not, how do you make it yourself hard to bowl to?

“How do you try and keep the scoreboard ticking over, especially in these shortened games? I think it’s really important you don’t get stuck.”

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men’s Ashes

First Test: November 21-25, Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT

Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3pm AEDT

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (first Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood