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Starc picked up his 100th Ashes wicket but Stokes wrecked Australia with a five-for as 19 wickets fell on the opening day

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Nov-2025

Ben Stokes wrecked the Australia batting unit•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

19 – Number of wickets on day one of the Perth Test, the most on the opening day of an Ashes Test since 1909, where both teams were bowled out on the first day in Manchester.It is also the most wickets on the opening day of an Ashes series, surpassing the 18 that fell on the first day of the one-off Test in Sydney in 1888, and 18 wickets on the first day of the three-Test series at Lord’s in 1896.5 – Ben Stokes is the fifth England captain to take a five-wicket haul in Australia. The last England captain to achieve this feat was Bob Willis in 1982, when he picked 5 for 66 in Brisbane.36 – Stokes took only 36 balls to complete his five-wicket haul (5 for 23). It is the third-quickest five-for by an England seamer (where data is available). Only Stuart Broad has been quicker than him, completing a five-for in 19 balls vs Australia at Trent Bridge in 2015 and 34 balls vs New Zealand at Lord’s in 2013. Stokes has the quickest five-wicket haul for an England seamer away from home.7 for 58 – Mitchell Starc recorded his best figures in Test cricket, topping his previous best of 6 for 9 in Australia’s previous Test, against West Indies in Kingston in July 2025, making it back-to-back five-wicket hauls for him.It was the 17th five-wicket haul in Tests for Starc, the third-highest for Australia among fast bowlers, pipping Graham McKenzie’s tally of 16.Starc also completed 100 Ashes wickets against England in the process. Among the 11 fast bowlers with more than 100 wickets in Tests against England, he is the only one to have made his debut in the 21st century.10 – Number of times Starc has dismissed Ben Stokes in Test cricket, the most by any seamer. R Ashwin is the only one to have dismissed Stokes more times in Test cricket (13).Starc has also bowled Stokes five times in Tests, the most for any bowler.Mitchell Starc acknowledges his career-best seven-for•Getty Images32.5 overs – The second shortest first innings for England in the first Test of an Ashes series. They were bowled out in 35.3 four-ball overs batting first in the first Test of the 1886-87 Ashes in Sydney.4 – England have not batted more than 41 overs in the last four international games that they have played. They were bowled out in 35.2 overs, 36 overs and 40.2 overs batting first in the three ODIs in New Zealand preceding the Ashes.5.23 – Of the 1995 instances of a team being bowled for under 200 in Test history, England’s scoring rate is the third-highest. In the Sydney Test in 2013-14, England were bowled out for 166 batting at a rate of 5.24. West Indies had a run rate of 5.40 when they were bowled out for 137 against Pakistan in Multan earlier this year.0 for 1 – This was the first time both England and Australia lost their first wicket without a run on the board in the first innings of an Ashes Test.Overall, it was only the eighth such instance in Test cricket.6 – Number of times England have been 0 for 1 in the first innings of an opening Ashes Test in Australia. Three of these instances have come in their last five tours – 2010-11, 2021-22 and this time. They were 2 for 1 in their first innings of the 2017-18 tour.2 – Only the second time in Stokes’ 38 Tests as captain that England didn’t pick a specialist spinner in the XI. The other instance also came in the Ashes – at Lord’s in 2023.For England, this is the first red-ball Test match in Australia without a specialist spinner in the playing XI since the 1998 Boxing Day Test.1946 – The last time Australia handed debuts to two players aged 30-plus in a men’s Test before Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett in Perth. This was in Wellington against New Zealand almost 80 years ago. Don Tallon and Ernie Toshack, both past 30, were among the seven debutants for Australia in what was their first Test match since World War II.

Legspinner suffered muscle strain during England’s Ashes warm-up fixture at Lilac Hill

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2025Rehan Ahmed has been ruled out of any further participation on the England Lions tour of Australia after suffering a right lower leg strain during the Ashes warm-up match against England in Perth.Legspinner Rehan batted at No. 5 for the Lions, making 16 off 41 balls on day one before becoming one of six wickets for England captain, Ben Stokes. He played no part with the ball, or in the Lions’ second innings, with the ECB announcing afterwards that he would return home to begin his recovery.Related

• Rehan, Cox and Fisher in England Lions squad for Australia

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• Anderson says 'weak' Australia are still Ashes favourites

Rehan had signed up to play for Hobart Hurricanes in the 2025-26 BBL, but the BBC reported that the injury was not expected to impact his involvement in the competition, which starts in a month’s time.England Lions are scheduled to play another four-day match at Lilac Hill, against a Cricket Australia XI, next week, before a one-off unofficial Test against Australia A in December. The Lions are also expected to be involved in a pink-ball tour game between England and the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra between the first and second Ashes Tests.It had been speculated that Rehan, who missed out on selection as the second spinner in the main Ashes squad to Will Jacks, could stay on with England after the Lions programme concluded.

Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke will be able to make further additions to his playing squad when the January transfer window opens for business next month.

It will be interesting to see what kind of players the German boss wants to add to the group, though, because he has changed the formation from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 in the last two matches, resulting in a 3-1 win over Chelsea and a 3-3 draw with Liverpool.

Because of how successful the new system has been, Farke may want to alter the club’s plans for the window to sign players who fit the 3-5-2, rather than a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.

Leeds make approach for Premiership star

What this may mean, for example, is that versatile wing-back options could be pursued instead of traditional wingers, as would be needed for the previous system.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

According to the print edition of the Scottish Daily Mail, via MOTLeedsNews, Leeds United have made an approach to sign Hibernian star Josh Mulligan in the January transfer window.

The report claims that the Whites and fellow Premier League strugglers Nottingham Forest are both interested in a deal to snap up the versatile Scottish talent ahead of the second half of the season.

It adds that Leeds have checked in on his progress in the Scottish Premiership and made contact with Hibs to see what their stance is on a January sale.

However, the report does not reveal what the answer to that approach was or how much Mulligan would cost if they wanted to submit a bid to snap him up next month.

Why Leeds should sign Josh Mulligan in January

Scotland is not one of the club’s usual markets. Per Transfermarkt, none of the current first-team squad joined Leeds from a Scottish club, and only Mark Viduka ranks within their top 50 most-expensive signings.

The Whites signed Viduka from Celtic in the summer of 2000, and he went on to score 72 goals in 166 appearances for Leeds, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he was an incredibly successful signing from north of the border.

Mulligan could follow in the Australian striker’s footsteps by becoming one of the rare players to make the move from Scotland to be a key player and star for Leeds in the Premier League.

The 23-year-old star is not a striker who is going to go and score goals at the rate that Viduka did, but he is an impressive attacking force who could shine in the newly created right wing-back role at Elland Road.

Mulligan has played as a central midfielder, as a right wing-back, as an attacking midfielder, and as a right winger, per FotMob, and he has caught the eye with his performances.

As you can see in the table above, the Scottish talent has shown that he has the attributes to make an impact at the top end of the pitch, and his dribbling, chance creation, and cross accuracy stats suggest that he is well-suited to a wing-back role.

Back in August, analyst John Walker described him as the “Scottish Gareth Bale” after a stunning Bale-esque goal from distance against Livingston in the Premiership.

He’s not the only one to compare him to the great Welshman. Former teammate Simon Ferry once said: “He’s a Rolls-Royce like Gareth Bale – powerful, strong, direct. He’s a machine at that age. He wants to learn, listens to you.”

Since the start of last season, Mulligan has provided eight league assists for Dundee and Hibernian combined, per Sofascore, whilst Jayden Bogle has produced five assists for Leeds in that time in the Championship and the Premier League.

The Hibs star has scored three goals and provided three assists in all competitions in the current campaign, compared to Bogle’s one goal and one assist, and could offer more of a threat at the top end of the pitch than the Englishman.

Mulligan’s experience playing as a wing-back for Dundee and Hibernian also means that he would be a perfect fit for Farke’s new system in the 3-5-2 formation, as he is used to playing in the role, albeit in Scotland, and could slot straight into the team as a potential upgrade on Bogle.

If the Scottish whiz can adapt to the Premier League and hit the ground running as an attacking force down the flank for the Whites, he could be Viduka 2.0 as the next Premiership star to shine in the top-flight for Leeds, if they can get a deal done in January.

Best signing since Raphinha: "Underrated" Leeds star must start every game

Daniel Farke must now start this Leeds United star for every game, who could be considered their best signing since Raphinha.

By
Kelan Sarson

3 days ago

Arsenal star Noni Madueke scored a brilliant goal to open the scoring for the Gunners against Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday night. The summer signing from Chelsea shrugged off challenges from two defenders before ending a slaloming run by crashing a shot past goalkeeper Dani van den Heuvel and into the top corner to break the deadlock in some style in Belgium.

• Madueke at the double as Arsenal stay perfect

  Madueke was the star for Arsenal as they maintained their perfect record in the 2025-26 Champions League by beating Club Brugge 3-0. The Arsenal star lit up the Jan Breydel Stadium with a fantastic opening goal and then scored again early in the second period to double the visitors' advantage. Gabriel Martinelli went on to add a third for Mikel Arteta's side as Arsenal made it six wins from six in the Champions League so far this season. The Premier League leaders remain the only team in the competition with a 100 per cent record. Meanwhile, Madueke becomes the first player in Arsenal's history to score each of his first three goals for the club in the Champions League or European Cup.

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• Madueke enjoys 'sweet' strike

  Madueke spoke about his goals after the game on : "The first goal was really nice, second a tap in but the first one was sweet. Delighted with the result. The bare minimum I need to give to my team is threat; they need to give the ball and feel that something can happen. Trying to score and be as decisive as possible is the next level I need to get to. I want to be consistently decisive for my club and my country. I think I can reach that level, so I'll keep working every day."

  The forward also spoke about Arsenal's good form and their belief they can be crowned champions of Europe.

  "We're tight, we want each other to do well. We have top players everywhere in the squad. It's about all of us a collective, not any individual. We know we all have a part to play, so that's a good thing about this team," he added.

  "I feel like we can win this competition, I feel like we can win the league as well. That has to be our aim. We're in a good place at the moment, so we'll just keep going."

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• Arteta hails 'outstanding' Madueke

  Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was also impressed by Madueke's strike. He told : "Madueke and Martinelli were outstanding today, the level of threat and two finishes spectacular. Jesus back after 11 months, to see him perform in the manner he did was really positive.

  "We know how difficult the Champions League is, and to win away from home especially with that many players out, it makes it bigger. Christian Norgaard is someone who probably prepares the best out of all of them. He is someone who makes all of us better every single day. He can play in any position, whether he plays more or less minutes his attitude is immaculate, a really good example for all of us.

  "Right now it is about managing the situations we have in the backline, some players were there but could not play more than 45 or 30 minutes. To manage that has been tough. But with the attitude that the players have, I know that if I ask anyone to play there then they could do it, and they have done a great job."