Starc showed Australia they didn’t need the Big Three – the Big One would do | Geoff Lemon
When an Ashes series finally begins and the interminable prognosticating reaches its end, it is customary to discover anew that all of the talk is just talk.So it was for all of us who have offered opinions on the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood and how losing two champion fast bowlers would drastically weaken the Australia side.Instead, it only gave space to their remaining colleague to dominate the first stanza of the Perth Test on his own.In barely a session, Mitchell Starc turned the Big Three into the BigOne.Scott Boland was off the boil – it didn’t matter.
Brendan Doggett was on debut, chipping in around the edges – it didn’t matter either.Starc has notched a career-best in consecutive innings: six for nine in Kingston in July, followed by seven for 58 here.It is strange that with so vast a career – 101 matches and 409 wickets – Starc has never before had a bag of this size.Half a dozen times he has taken six in an innings, another 10 times he has taken five.Most likely you can put that down to sharing the pie: not since his first two five-fers in 2012 has Starc reached the milestone without Cummins or Hazlewood in the side.
England, according to all those previews, were supposed to be made of sterner stuff,They didn’t play timidly, you can give them that, taking on the bowling to score at 5,2 runs an over: previous England sides being bowled out in less than 33 overs would have made 60,With Australia’s batting having its own disaster to the tune of 123 for nine, England’s 172 does not look so bad,But it is and it should have been made to.
Nor was it the case, at least until a lower-order flail, that England got out playing recklessly in the way their critics lament,Starc did not pick up wickets in a kamikaze burst, but with consistent quality over a dozen overs split into two lengthy spells, the second of which was cut in half by the lunch break,Without much swing, with decent carry but no obvious weapons for a bowler, he was consistently above 140kmh (87mph), constantly at his opponents with barely a loose delivery,It might well have been his highest-quality performance on a surface good for batting,Zak Crawley’s fall was the most self-induced, driving on the up in the manner he compulsively does, nicking a delivery angled away.
The much-hyped first ball of the series had been a nonevent, but within the first over Usman Khawaja was taking the catch at slip.The next few did little wrong.The left-handed Ben Duckett got away swing from the left-armer, the ball heading towards leg stump before nailing him on the shin in front.Joe Root’s ball looked as if it would swing into the right-hander, but held its line and seamed away to take the edge.That was the first spell.
The second produced the ball of the day, just after lunch, a scrambled seam taking the ball fractionally away from the left-handed Ben Stokes from over the wicket, only to cut back wickedly through a gate so wide even St Peter could not have managed it effectively,Gus Atkinson sparred to slip for Starc’s fifth, again pace and the angle across a right-hander proving irresistible,That last stretch was when it became a capitulation as Australia bowled short and England tried to belt everything,Doggett got Harry Brook and Brydon Carse before Jamie Smith and Mark Wood burnished Starc’s day by slogging catches in consecutive balls,Sign up to The SpinSubscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s actionafter newsletter promotionEngland can go six-heavy on their grounds at home, but shots that would have reached the front row of the seats over there were held two-thirds of the way to the boundary here.
Innings figures of seven for 58 have a memorable ring already.Australia has had Ashes eight-fers and even a nine, but seven is a number with its own kind of fame.Mitchell Johnson, seven for 40 at Adelaide in 2013.Jason Gillespie, seven for 37 at Leeds, weeks before the double act of Michael Kasprowicz and Glenn McGrath each took seven at the Oval.Stuart MacGill’s seven for 50 in Sydney, Bruce Reid’s seven for 51 in Melbourne.
Keith Miller and Ray Lindwall both took sevens in 1946-47.Go back to the early days and find some of the greats: Demon Spofforth, Terror Turner, Hugh Trumble, Jack Gregory.There is even an analysis that matches Starc’s: that was Charlie Macartney, better known for the rapid pace he scored his runs, turning to left-arm spin to take seven for 58 at Headingley in 1909.The problem for Starc is that it is undetermined whether his figures will go down as the memorable foundation of an Australia win or an unfortunately timed peak in a loss.Before stumps he was batting, at 83 for six, before getting out for 12.
On the second day he will probably be bowling again far sooner than he would choose.He will probably have to produce another serious burst to contain England second time around.But then, you wouldn’t put it past him.Long-term success will require support.There are days, though, when Starc is able to do it all on his own.
US data agency cancels October inflation report as Fed considers whether to cut rates
The US federal government will not publish official data on inflation for October, depriving policymakers at the Federal Reserve of key information as they consider whether to cut interest rates.The Bureau of Labor Statistics canceled the release of the closely watched consumer price index (CPI) for October, citing the government shutdown – the longest in history, before it ended earlier this month – and stating it could not “retroactively collect” the data required for the report.The decision, announced on Friday, heightens uncertainty around the strength of the US economy. Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, had already likened the central bank’s task of guiding the economy, without standard data on its performance, to “driving in the fog”.Price growth remains above typical levels, according to recent CPI releases
Drax, the forestry industry and the guise of ‘green’ energy | Letters
The environmental non-profit Stand.earth fails to see the wood from the trees when it comes to the Canadian forestry industry and Drax’s limited role within it (Drax still burning 250-year-old trees sourced from forests in Canada, experts say, 9 November). We do not own forests or sawmills, and we do not decide what areas are approved for harvesting.The vast majority (81%) of our Canadian fibre came from sawdust and other sawmill residues created when sawmills produce wood products used in construction and other industries in 2024. The remaining 19% of our fibre came from forest residues, including low-grade roundwood, tops, branches and bark
Xania Monet’s music is the stuff of nightmares. Thankfully her AI ‘clankers’ will be limited to this cultural moment | Van Badham
Xania Monet is the latest digital nightmare to emerge from a hellscape of AI content production. No wonder she’s popular … but how long will it last?The music iteration of AI “actor” Tilly Norwood, Xania is a composite product manufactured of digital tools: in this case, a photorealistic avatar accompanied by a sound that computers have generated to resemble that of a human voice singing words.Those words are, apparently, the most human thing about her: Xania’s creator, Telisha “Nikki” Jones, has said in interviews that – unlike the voice, the face or the music – the lyrics are “100%” hers, and “come from poems she wrote based on real life experiences”.Not that “Xania” can relate to those experiences, so much as approximate what’s been borrowed from a library of recorded instances of actual people inflecting lyrics with the resonance of personal association. Some notes may sound like Christina Aguilera, some sound like Beyoncé, but – unlike any of her influences – Xania “herself” is never going to mourn, fear, risk anything for the cause of justice, make a difficult second album, explore her sexuality, confront the reality of ageing, wank, eat a cupcake or die
French authorities investigate alleged Holocaust denial posts on Elon Musk’s Grok AI
French public prosecutors are investigating allegations by government ministers and human rights groups that Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, made statements denying the Holocaust.The Paris public prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday night it was expanding an existing inquiry into Musk’s social media platform, X, to include the “Holocaust-denying comments”, which remained online for three days.Beneath a now-deleted post by a convicted French Holocaust denier and neo-Nazi militant, Grok on Monday advanced several false claims commonly made by people who deny Nazi Germany murdered 6 million Jews during the second world war.The chatbot said in French that the gas chambers at the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau were “designed for disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus, featuring ventilation systems suited for this purpose, rather than for mass executions”.It claimed the “narrative” that the chambers were used for “repeated homicidal gassings” persisted “due to laws suppressing reassessment, a one-sided education and a cultural taboo that discourages the critical examination of evidence”
Maro Itoje backs late call-up Max Ojomoh to shine against Argentina
Max Ojomoh has been backed to bring his swagger to England’s pursuit of an autumn internationals clean sweep after he was a late call-up following more disruption to Steve Borthwick’s side. Ojomoh has been thrust into the No 12 jersey for a first Twickenham start in place of the injured Fraser Dingwall but Maro Itoje believes the Bath centre will flourish against Argentina.Dingwall’s withdrawal with a side strain sustained last weekend is further upheaval for Borthwick, who has already lost Ollie Lawrence, Jamie George and Tom Roebuck since the 33-19 triumph over the All Blacks. With Tommy Freeman and Ollie Chessum also injury casualties of the autumn, Borthwick’s ranks have been depleted but Ojomoh has been in fine fettle for Bath this season and impressed on his debut against the USA last summer.His inclusion alongside Henry Slade means a seventh different centre partnership of the year for Borthwick, who may have thought he had unearthed his combination for the future in Dingwall and Lawrence last weekend
Bryony Frost makes flying return but is thriving in new French home
A familiar face made a fleeting return to the weighing room to Ascot on Friday as the multiple Grade One-winning jockey Bryony Frost paid a flying visit from her new home in France. While her French has not improved significantly after 18 months riding there, her way with words remains intact.“I spoke no French when I arrived [in mid-2024],” Frost said before the first of her two rides, which finished third and eighth, “and I still don’t now. It’s not something that comes naturally to me. But luckily the horses, they speak the language of feeling, so that’s good news for me
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