Australia have claimed a 1-0 lead in the Ashes after outmuscling England by 9 wickets at the Gabba.

From Travis Head’s swashbuckling first-innings century to new captain Pat Cummins’ five-wicket haul on Day 1, to debutant Alex Carey’s record-breaking eight catches behind the stumps, plenty of Aussies started the series in fine form.

Meanwhile, despite England’s crushing loss, there were still several positives, with Joe Root’s second innings 89 showing why he’s the number one ranked batter in the world at the moment, and seamers Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood toiling valiantly with ball in hand.

Here is The Roar’s player ratings for the first Ashes Test.

Australia

Marcus Harris – 3
The opener’s miserable record against England continued in the first innings, caught at slip for just 3 as his average against the old enemy plummeted to just 8.33 across five Tests.

On a hiding to nothing in the second innings chasing only 20, Harris, to his credit, held his nerve, with a nice square drive bringing up the winning boundary. Should hold his spot for the second Test, at any rate.

David Warner – 8
Despite some early jitters, the opener’s dynamic 94 in the first innings, highlighted by his stunning takedown of England spinner Jack Leach, showcased just how vital he is to Australia’s fortunes… and makes his availability for the second Test after suffering a rib injury all the more crucial.

Didn’t field in the second innings or bat in Australia’s small run chase, so you can guarantee there will be plenty of media attention on Warner’s fitness as the series heads to Adelaide.

Marnus Labuschagne – 8
Together with Warner, the Queenslander’s counterattacking innings on Day 2 was in stark contrast to England’s opening day woes. Knowing when to leave and when to play his shots, Labuschagne’s chanceless 74 set the perfect platform for Travis Head to cash in on a tired bowling attack later in the day.

Wasn’t required to face a ball in the second dig; and interestingly, new captain Pat Cummins seemed more reluctant to turn to his handy leg-spin than predecessor Tim Paine, with Labuschagne sending down just three overs for the match.

Steve Smith – 3
Averaging well north of 100 across his last two series against England, Smith’s removal for 12 – perhaps unsettled by the extreme pace of Mark Wood – is one of a few positives the visitors can take to Adelaide.

Smith’s 12 was his lowest score against England since the Adelaide Test in 2017-18 – with the pink ball likely to make life tough for the Aussie batters, they’ll need the champion to get back to his brilliant best.

Travis Head – 10
Having scraped into the XI over Usman Khawaja in a line-ball call, Head’s magnificent century on Day 2 took Australian from a position of vulnerability at 5/195, to one of almost complete safety.

Coming off just 85 balls, it’s the third-fastest century in Ashes history; passing 150 as well for the second time in his Test career was richly deserved. An obvious player of the match, his spot is now secure for the rest of the series, at least.

Cameron Green – 6
The young all-rounder’s golden duck on Day 2 – shouldering arms to a nip-backer from Ollie Robinson – only takes a little bit of the gloss of what was an encouraging bowling performance.

Having failed to take a wicket across 44 overs last summer, an injury-free preparation saw Green nudge 140kph throughout the match. After breaking his duck with the wicket of Ollie Pope in the first innings, brilliantly caught by Josh Hazlewood at fine leg, he added two more in the second, including the biggest prize of all in Joe Root caught behind.

Alex Carey – 7
Didn’t set the world on fire with the bat – though he was thrown to the wolves a bit being made to open the batting in place of Warner in the second innings – but Carey’s exemplary work behind the stumps would have thrilled the selectors.

Sharp to both pace and spin, the South Australian hardly made a mistake across either innings, along the way safely pouching eight catches to set a new record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper on Test debut. He looks every inch a long-term replacement for Tim Paine.

Alex Carey becomes the first player in men's Tests to take eight catches on debut! #Ashes https://t.co/H7QXaUzvGY

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 11, 2021

Pat Cummins (c) – 8
Remarkably, despite two outstanding Test series against England already under his belt, Cummins’ Day 1 five-wicket haul was his first against the old enemy.

Reliable and dangerous as ever with the ball, the quick also had a fine start to his tenure as captain, expertly handling his frontline bowlers as well as all-rounder Green, apart from a passage at the end of Day 3 when Joe Root and Dawid Malan took control.

Mitchell Starc – 7
Whatever you made of the ball itself that castled Rory Burns with the first ball of the series – looking at you, Warnie – the spectacular start to the summer was a badly needed jab back at the critics from the left-armer after plenty of speculation over his place in the team.

While he only took three wickets for the Test, and was a touch too expensive in the second innings for his detractors’ liking, he should at least have done enough to earn a promotion up the batting order ahead of Cummins with his well-compiled 35 in partnership with Head. Incredibly, Starc’ average of 30.9 since January 2019 well and truly rivals any of England’s top seven, Root excepted.

Nathan Lyon – 6
Sometimes all you need is a bit of luck. Having been stranded on 399 Test wickets for the best part of a year, a fruitless run on Day 3 as Joe Root and Dawid Malan dug in extended the veteran spinner’s agony.

But just like buses, having waited an eternity for one, wickets came in a rush for Lyon on Day 4. After finally joining Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath among Australian bowlers with 400 Test wickets – an incredible duo to join – the GOAT would rip through the middle order and the tail to finish with an innings-high four wickets. You can’t say he didn’t earn it.

The moment all of Australia was waiting for! #Ashes pic.twitter.com/Oxf0ZfOjSF

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 11, 2021

Josh Hazlewood – 8
Taking only two wickets in the first innings was an injustice for the reliable quick, who was as ruthless and metronomic as ever in an incredible opening spell that saw him remove Malan and Root cheaply. With two incredible catches at fine leg, the first to secure Cameron Green his first Test wicket, one could easily mount an argument that the ‘Hoff’ was even more impactful on Day 1 than five-wicket hero Cummins.

If there was any doubt as to Hazlewood’s importance to the attack, it was proved late on Day 3: with the right-armer bowling just eight overs as rumours of a mystery injury swirled, that England’s batters secured their only wicketless session of the Test was no coincidence.

England

Rory Burns – 1
Burns’ technique has long horrified purists, and his first-ball dismissal on Day 1 – caught in a tangle of feet as an innocuous Starc ball swung into his leg stump – was unbecoming of any opening batter.

The Rory Burns dismissal by Mitchell Starc with commentary from Tony Greig and Geoffrey Boycott #Ashes #ENGvsAUS pic.twitter.com/NlnZHlIdfc

— Jason Ford (@TheFordFactor) December 9, 2021

Couple that with an ugly drop in the slips to spare David Warner on Day 2, and not much went right for Burns in his first Test in Australia. Even when he was spared a pair in the second innings by the DRS, overturning a Starc LBW, he could only muster 13.

Haseeb Hameed – 5
A pair of 20s don’t exactly jump off the page, but the 24-year old at least showed the temperament and fighting spirit that England batting line-ups have conspicuously lacked in recent tours.

As Root and Malan showed in the second innings, sometimes all you need to do as an opener is see off the new ball and make life easier for the middle order: on that score, Hameed did his job.

Dawid Malan – 7
Along with Ben Stokes, Malan is the only Englishman in their Gabba XI to have scored a Test century in Australia, and his fluent second-innings knock together with Joe Root showed just why he has forced his way back into the team in time for this tour.

82 runs will ensure he remains in the team for the foreseeable future, but one of he or Root needed to push well past three figures, as Head did, for England to have had any chance.

Joe Root (c) – 7
It wasn’t quite Nasser Hussain winning the toss and bowling first, but Root’s decision to bat in difficult conditions on Day 1 has been criticised from some corners. With injury concerns around quicks Ollie Robinson and Ben Stokes, and spinner Jack Leach battered out of the attack, he was faced with plenty of challenges in the field as captain too, which proved difficult to answer.

A first-innings duck wasn’t the way the most in-form batter in world cricket wanted to start a series he himself described as ‘career-defining’; but he showed his class with the bat in the second, his 89 combining with Dawid Malan for England’s one major show of defiance of the match.

Ben Stokes – 2
Burns may have had a worse Test, but Stokes’ ugly match was the most glaring reason of all why England couldn’t match Australia at the Gabba.

Lacking match fitness having not played any form of cricket since July, the all-rounder was badly squared up and caught behind the wicket in both innings for low scores; while aside from a threatening first over in which he bowled David Warner off a no-ball, his usually dangerous seamers were picked apart with ease by Head and company.

Ollie Pope – 6
One of a precious few Englishmen who could hold his head high after their Day 1 horror show, Pope’s sprightly 35 was highlighted by some razor-sharp running between the wickets. But with the team 6/118, his airy pull shot to be caught at fine leg off Cameron Green was far from what the team needed.

Pope’s attacking cricket will mean England fans must take the good with the bad with their young number six in future, but he acquitted himself well for his first Test in Australia.

Jos Buttler – 6
Coming in at 5/60 on Day 1, Buttler made good on his pre-series promise to be ‘fearless’ with some aggressive batting. Ultimately, though, unlike his white-ball heroics, he would once again prove unable to go on with it at Test level, managing just 39 before nicking off.

Arguably England’s greatest ever limited-overs batter, Buttler averages in the low 30s with just one century in Tests; while his keeping was sound, scores of 39 and 23, edging behind both times, were far from the sort of counter-attacking, game-changing knocks he can produce in the shorter formats.

Chris Woakes – 5
Given the nod over Stuart Broad, Woakes, while honest as the day is long, just doesn’t seem suited for the unyielding pitches of Australia. He picked up two later-order wickets in Australia’s first innings, and was seldom wayward, but just like in 2017-18, bowling at his pace isn’t usually conducive to great success down under.

With Wood and Robinson impressing, and James Anderson and Broad set to return in Adelaide, Woakes could easily find himself once again on the outer in Adelaide, a position he has often found himself in of late overseas.

Ollie Robinson – 6
Robinson has already shown in his brief Test career that he’s a fighter, and that was on display in his first Ashes match. The emerging seamer was responsible for England’s biggest bowling highlight of the match, removing Warner and Cameron Green in successive balls on Day 2 to threaten a collapse that never eventuated.

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Batting isn’t his main role, but getting out to a reverse-sweep with the team 7 wickets down and only nine runs in front was pretty dire stuff, after Australia’s tail had shown the previous day just how important lower-order partnerships can be.

Mark Wood – 7
England’s plan in the years leading up to this series was to meet Australia with the fire of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer; with Archer’s elbow injury ruling him out of the series, Wood proved that the idea at least was sound.

His pace was far and away removed from anything England have brought to these shores in the past decade, and was enough to unsettle the usually impervious Steve Smith enough to bring about an uncharacteristic edge behind. Finishing with the final two wickets of Australia’s innings, including bowling the centurion Head, was a fitting reward for probably the pick of the visitors’ bowlers.

Jack Leach – 1
Not since South Africa’s Imran Tahir was carted all around the Adelaide Oval in 2012 has a spinner endured as fearsome a pasting as Leach on Day 2. With David Warner in particular making it his mission to blast the spinner out of the attack, Leach’s inability to stem the bleeding saw him bowl just 13 overs in an innings where captain Root had two of his bowlers – Stokes and Robinson – clearly troubled by injuries.

It’s hard to see him returning for the remainder of the series, with England looking likely to play a five-seamer attack from here on out.