Ben Stokes goes full ‘beast mode’ as England hit back in thrilling Ashes opener

Brydon Carse revelled in England captain Ben Stokes unleashing “beast mode” on Australia as England’s bowlers produced a stunning fightback on day one of the first Ashes Test.

On a pitch branded a “green monster” by the local newspaper in Perth, Stokes opted to bat first and saw his side bowled out for 172 in less than 33 overs.

With Mitchell Starc snapping up career-best figures of seven for 58 it looked like being another anxiety-inducing chapter in England’s dire run of form Down Under.

But their five-strong pace attack flipped the script with a brilliant display of speed and hostility, reducing their hosts to 123 for nine to hold a 49-run lead at the close.

It was dizzying, unmissable theatre and in its closing moments, Stokes thrust himself into centre stage.

He has poured his heart and soul into regaining full fitness after tearing a shoulder muscle against India in August and barged down the door to claim five for 23 in a six-over spell.

After Carse and Jofra Archer had shared the first four Australian wickets, he took out Travis Head, Cameron Green, Starc, Alex Carey and Scott Boland in the space of 30 deliveries.

By the time he was finished, the wicket count for the day stood at 19 – more than any other opening day of Ashes cricket since 1909.

Basking in his captain’s intervention, Carse said: “Ben Stokes, look, he’s amazing.

“You know his character and his resilience is everything that this team strives to be and it’s obviously a game changing spell in that session.

“I think Ducky (Ben Duckett) made a comment the other day that he’s been in beast mode since he arrived in Australia and he thoroughly deserved that. The way he runs through brick walls for this team is something that everyone looks up to.”

Stokes was one of many who faltered with the bat, cleaned up by Starc between bat and pad for just six, but his contribution with the ball and his inspirational leadership showcased his ability to impact even the biggest occasion.

His words after England’s disappointing first-innings display – a quick-fire visit that relied heavily on an ultra-aggressive 52 from Harry Brook and a sturdier 46 by Ollie Pope – made his team believe their heavy artillery pace attack could do serious damage of it own.

They hunted aggressively as a pack, with the wicketless duo of Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood just as important as the the trio who cashed in.

“Stokesy said, ‘let’s smash the wicket hard’ get as much as we can out of it. He kept it very simple,” said Carse, who picked up the prized scalp of Steve Smith and spooked Usman Khawaja with a nasty lifter.

“We had 45-50 minutes before tea and he said to the lads with the ball, ‘just give everything’. The way Gus and Jofra started was phenomenal. We continued it as a group of five seamers throughout that last session. I thought we were quite relentless.

“It’s an unbelievable day of Test cricket, I think everyone that came to watch today was thoroughly entertained.”

Starc played a blinder in the absence of injured quicks Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, taking out Zak Crawley for a first-over duck and also removing Joe Root without score for his 100th Ashes wicket.

“My role in the team is to go looking for wickets,” he said.

“It’s fast forward I guess, it’s happening quickly. With 19 wickets in the day we often say its the wicket or the batting but I think both teams bowled really well.

“England have obviously come with an approach of extra pace and a five-man attack. Obviously that extra air-speed is going to create angst.”