Brydon Carse heaped praise on England's captain, Ben Stokes , for his leadership on and off the field, after a barnstorming fightback with the ball on the opening day of the 2025-26 Ashes.

Carse claimed the key wickets of Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja, before Stokes ripped through the lower-middle order with figures of 5 for 45 in ten overs, as England fought back from being bowled out for 172 by reducing Australia to 123 for 9 at the close, a deficit of 49.

It meant that 19 wickets had fallen in the opening day's play, the most ever in an Ashes series, as the action lived up to every ounce of the pre-series hype.

Carse, however, praised his captain for confronting the emotions of the series head-on, both in encouraging the team to walk to the venue at the start of the day's play, a

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