The much-awaited Ashes series between England and Australia commenced on Friday (June 16). The opening day of the series was at least a rollercoaster experience as England continued their Bazball strategy with the bat. The indicators of it had been proven on the first supply itself from opener Zak Crawley. The series received underway with a first-ball 4 with Crawley smashing a large supply from Pat Cummins by means of the covers.
The crowd and even the England camp had been in awe of such an excellent start to the series. The earlier Ashes had began with a first-ball wicket as Mitchell Starc castled Rory Burns round his legs off the first ball. But this time round, it was a whole turnaround for the England workforce who’ve been enjoying some terrific cricket over the final 12 months.
Interestingly, the first-ball 4 was a file in the Ashes because it final occurred an enormous 29 years in the past again in 1994. The final occasion of an Ashes series beginning with a first-ball 4 occurred in the 1994-95 season with the batter being Australia’s Michael Slater. Slater smashed the opening ball of the series to boundary off Phil DeFreitas at the Gabba.
Interestingly, Slater was additionally the final batter to start an Ashes Test match with a 4 and this had occurred means again in 2001. This means, Crawlery rewrote a few feats together with his first-ball 4 at Edgbaston on Friday.
As far as the match is anxious, it expectedly moved at a sooner tempo with England smashing 393 runs in their first innings off simply 78 overs. Ben Stokes had a shock in retailer for everybody as he determined to declare the innings and ask Australia to bat the tough 20 minutes earlier than stumps. However, the visiting openers did effectively to maintain England at bay and finish the day on 14/0 in 4 overs.
