BRISBANE, Australia, Dec 8, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - Mitchell Starc sensationally
bowled Rory Burns with the first ball of the Ashes series as Australia ripped
through England's top order in a chaotic first hour of play at Brisbane on
Wednesday.

  Dawid Malan, who had scored six, and captain Joe Root, for a duck, quickly
followed as England slumped to 11-3 after choosing to bat first on a green-
looking wicket.

  Australia captain Pat Cummins then removed Ben Stokes for five to leave
England struggling at lunch on 59 for four with opener Haseeb Hameed standing
firm on 25 alongside Ollie Pope on 17 not out.

  England captain Root won the toss and took the brave decision to bat in
hot, humid, bowler-friendly conditions at the Gabba under overcast skies, a
decision he may have been rueing during the interval.

  Brisbane has been experiencing a wet start to the summer, washing out most
of the tourists' scheduled warm-up games.

  Having had little chance to become acclimatised to conditions, England's
top order struggled with the pace and movement of the Australian attack.

  The crowd of around 28,000 were barely settled in their seats when Starc
clean bowled Burns around the left-hander's legs with a full, swinging
delivery.

  Burns looked to glance the ball that seemed to be heading down the leg
side, only for it to straighten and crash into leg stump.

  It was only the fourth time in Ashes history that a wicket had fallen on
the first ball. The last victim was England's Stan Worthington in 1936, also
in Brisbane.

  Josh Hazlewood then had England reeling with two quick wickets -- Malan
caught by debutant wicketkeeper Alex Carey for six and then the prize scalp
of the world's top-ranked batsman Root, taken at first slip by David Warner
without scoring.

  With the visitors in huge trouble at 11-3, all-rounder Stokes, so often
England's saviour, strode to the crease and he and Hameed looked to steady
the ship.

  After hitting a glorious cover drive to the boundary after the drinks
interval, Cummins got a ball to lift and square up Stokes who fended to
Marnus Labuschagne diving to take a good catch to his left at third slip.

  England were 29-4 when Ollie Pope joined Hameed at the crease and with
conditions easing, they managed to steer England to lunch with no further
damage.

  England, already missing the rested Jimmy Anderson, made the surprising
decision to leave out veteran seamer Stuart Broad.

  They instead opted for a seam attack of Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Ollie
Robinson, bolstered by Stokes and left-arm spinner Jack Leach.