‘Nightmare’: England suffer another first-ball Ashes disaster at the Gabba

Fifteen years after Steve Harmison got the Ashes underway with a rank wide ball, the 2021/22 series has started in vastly different circumstances.

“Woah, wide delivery taken a slip by the skipper,” Channel 9 commentator Bill Lawry cried.

“The nerves are showing already.”

Steve Harmison’s first delivery of the 2006/07 Ashes series remains one of cricket’s most infamous moments.

After weeks of build-up and speculation, England’s campaign got underway with a rank half-tracker that ballooned towards skipper Andrew Flintoff at second slip.

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The delivery became an allegory for the entire series — Ricky Ponting’s Aussies comfortably secured a 5-0 Ashes whitewash, the first since 1921.

It was a harsh reality check following England’s 2005 triumph — put simply, the Poms were utterly outclassed by a better side.

Fast forward 15 years, the 2021/22 Ashes have started in vastly different circumstances, but an English cricketer is once again the butt of the joke.

Australian spearhead Mitchell Starc got the sport’s marquee series underway with a swinging yorker that somehow bowled England opener Rory Burns around his legs.

The left-handed opener carelessly walked across his crease, planting his front foot and exposing his leg stump — Starc got the Kookaburra to hoop just enough to crash into the pegs.

“Bowled him first ball,” former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist screamed on Fox Cricket. “The inswinger from Starc, immediate breakthrough, Australia can’t believe the start they’ve got away to.”

It was Burns’ sixth Test duck in 2021, setting an unwanted record for most scores of zero for a top-six batter in a calendar year.

The Gabba crowd erupted with delight — the Ashes were underway, and ironically, Harmison was commentating for BT Sport as an ecstatic Starc celebrated with his teammates.

After stumps on day one at the Gabba, Australian captain Pat Cummins told reporters: “Everyone talks about Harmison, but hopefully that’s the new memory now.”

ASHES LIVE BLOG: Gabba Test day 1 coverage

I think that’s the opposite of a Harmy. Sweet Jesus!!!! #Ashes

— Rory Campbell (@RoryDCampbell) December 8, 2021

The anti-Harmison!

The difference couldn’t me more STARC!!!! #Ashes@FoxCricket

— Brenton Speed (@BrentonSpeed) December 8, 2021

if you were wondering what the batting equivalent to Harmison 06/07 is, Rory Burns has probably nailed it. #Ashes

— Brett Sprigg (@BrettSprigg) December 8, 2021

And like that Starc replaces Harmison as the producer of the most famous opening delivery of an Ashes series.

Fittingly, a bloke named Burns was the victim.

— Derek Alberts (@derekalberts1) December 8, 2021

Sure the last time I stayed up to watch the first ball of the Ashes was when Harmison bowled to third slip. This time…Nightmare. #Ashes2021

— Alex Brown (@AlexBrown78) December 8, 2021

The careers of English and Australian cricketers are defined by Ashes performances — players who don’t shine during an Ashes series are rarely considered greats of the game.

Starc has taken a wicket with the first ball of a match on several occasions — Sri Lanka 2016 immediately springs to mind — but for decades to come, Aussie cricket fans will be talking about THAT yorker at the Gabba.

“The Ashes is the only series that you ever want to be a part of,” Harmison told news.com.au, speaking on behalf of IndiaBetting.co.in. “It’s the only series you get judged on.

“If you’re an Englishman or an Australian, you’re remembered for how many Test matches you’ve played, how many runs or wickets you scored and how many Ashes victories you had.”

By his own admission, Harmison was England’s “biggest let-down” of the 2006/07 Ashes — he finished the series with 10 wickets at an average of 61.40 and a strike rate of 102.1.

“Australia was ready for us — we weren’t even at the races,” Harmison said.

“It didn’t matter whether it was Andrew Flintoff or Andrew Strauss (as captain), England were going to get beaten. Michael Vaughan would have captained that team to a 5-0 defeat, no question.

“The team wasn’t good enough. (Flintoff) had to take over opening the bowling because of what happened with me in Brisbane.

“I didn’t perform. I was probably his biggest let-down. Not that I wasn’t trying, I was trying my utmost hardest. I just started badly in preparation for that Brisbane Test match, missing the (warm-up) game in Adelaide, and I didn’t play much in the game before that, so I wasn’t ready — a little bit like England are now.

“The team wasn’t good enough to come up against that great Australian side. You look at the players we had missing — Giles, Simon Jones, Vaughan, Trescothick.

“Arguably, Australia were as formidable, if not more formidable, than what they were in 2005.”

Steve Harmison starts the 2006/07 Ashes with a wide.

Rory Burns is bowled first ball. Photo by Patrick HAMILTON / AFP

Harmison was a two-time Ashes winner, securing the coveted urn on home soil in 2005 and 2009. He claimed 222 Test wickets — more than Flintoff, more than John Snow, more than Jim Laker.

But despite everything he achieved on the field, most Australian cricket fans remember him solely for that fateful delivery at the Gabba in November 2006.

Sadly, Burns might suffer the same fate.

“The difference between the good and the greats that excel at Test match cricket are the ones that can perform mentally at high intensity over the course of five days and get their side in a position to win games,” Harmison said.

“That’s why so many of the best players in the world have come from the Test arena.

“When it comes down to the business end when the pressure comes on, it’s about who can handle it mentally — and that’s Test match cricket, and even more so, Ashes Test match cricket.”

Starc told Channel 7: “You can say I carried on, because I probably did. I guess that is Ashes cricket isn’t it, it’s just a heightened sense of everything.

“I’d love to sit here and say that’s how I drew it up, bowl him around the legs, just swing it in. It’s no secret that the way I go about my bowling is to be attacking and aim for the stumps.”

England was rolled for 147 before rain interrupted play on day one — the action will resume at 10.30am AEDT on Thursday morning.