The Ashes: Perth proving perfect location for launch of blockbuster series despite Mitchell Starc’s protest

Australian cricket star Steve Smith has given a ringing endorsement of Perth as the rightful home of the first Ashes Test, warding off a bizarre push for it return to the east coast. It comes as former England captain Michael Vaughan said he had never seen hype like this for an Ashes series before, with Perth and The West Australian’s viral coverage at the centre of the build-up. Smith said Perth was the perfect place to open the summer — as it has for the past three seasons — despite east coast media and fans latching onto star bowler Mitchell Starc’s call for the first match to return to Brisbane and the dilapidated Gabba. The stand-in Australian captain and batting legend praised the “great venue” and said Perth was a “nice place to start the summer. He credited the response of the Perth fans as “outstanding”. “I think the series has been on people’s radar for a long time,” he said. “A lot of the English (fans) couldn’t travel last time England were out here, so it’s exciting for them to be able to come down and see another Ashes series. “There’s going to be plenty of viewers on TV, both here and back in England as well. So hopefully we can put on a really good show and entertain plenty of people.” Talks are already underway between Cricket Australia and the WA Government for the opening match to remain in the west beyond the initial three-year deal, which expires after this match. The West’s front pages have made waves around the world since England arrived in Perth. Vaughan, an Ashes-winning captain and outspoken commentator, even revealed it had fast become his favourite newspaper for the colourful and cheeky takedowns of England’s stars. “I reckon it’s fantastic, it’s all a bit of fun, isn’t it?” he told The West. “We went through the front pages one by one and had a bit of a laugh.” Earlier, Vaughan told the BBC in an online video he was loving the coverage as he flicked through Wednesday’s edition. “It’s becoming my new favourite paper, I have to say,” he said. Starc’s claims the players want the first match to return to Brisbane come despite the run-down venue about to undergo a desperately needed and overdue renovation in time for the Olympics in 2032. Once a fortress for the national side, Australia has won just two of its past five matches at the Gabba Rain meant last year’s Gabba Test was a wet squib in an otherwise sparkling five-match contest against India. Australia lost to the lowly West Indies there in January of 2024 and to an undermanned India in 2021. Ticket demand for the first time England have played at Optus Stadium has been unprecedented, with the first two days sold out for several months and only limited tickets remaining for the third day. Even England skipper Ben Stokes — who will be playing his first Test in Perth since 2013 — which saw him hit his first hundred in just his second appearance at the level — said his side was ready for the challenge of confronting a “seriously good” Australian team on Friday. “Everyone — including myself, including the team, and all you guys — know that the record of England over the history of Ashes series in Australia isn’t the best,” he said. “But we’ve got an opportunity over here over the next two-and-a-half months to write our own history.”