Mitchell Starc proved a revelation in commentary for Channel 7 as wife Alyssa Healy led Australia to a 2-0 lead over England in the women’s Ashes. And he even managed to squeeze in a cheeky dig at Ashes nemesis Ben Stokes.

Healy made 70 off 78 balls to lead Australia to a four-wicket win at North Sydney Oval, chasing down England’s total of 204 with 67 balls to spare. The women’s captain was in the commentary box on a number of occasions during the men’s Test series against India, offering a unique insight into her star husband.

And on Sunday it was Starc’s turn to get behind the microphone. Fans were left raving over Starc’s insight and analysis, especially when he took a swipe at Stokes and the England men’s team.

When discussion turned to the fact the last women’s Ashes series finished in a draw but Australia retained the urn because they previously held it, Starc made a reference to the last men’s series. It too finished in a 2-2 draw, but Pat Cummins and Australia kept their hands on the urn.

But England captain Stokes infamously claimed afterwards that his side played better and had secured a “moral victory”. In reference to the last women’s series, Starc said on Sunday: “Yeah but who won morally.”

Broadcaster Neroli Meadows was among the many in hysterics over Starc’s comment on social media. And the Aussie veteran won praise for his work in the commentary box in general.

Alyssa Healy bounces back to form after difficult period

On the field, Healy produced her best innings in eight months and Ash Gardner was equally brilliant with three wickets and an unbeaten 42 with the bat. The end result was a 2-0 lead for Australia in the multi-format series, with each of the three ODIs and T20s worth two points and the Test match worth four.

“Today will just give our team a lot of confidence. People stood up in the right moments, be it with bat or ball,” Gardner said. “Hopefully it’s signs of what’s to come and she (Healy) can score a heap more runs.

“Just watching the way she was batting through the (recent) New Zealand series, she was striking the ball really well and got some starts. But today, scoring 70 in front of the home crowd probably spurs you on as captain. She’s leading from the front, but I know from a body point of view she will take a lot of confidence out of it too, keeping and being able to back it up.”

RELATED:

Healy has battled persistent foot and knee issues over the last year, and hadn’t passed 50 at any level in 16 innings dating back to last March. But she looked back to her best on Sunday, coming good at just the right time.

But Gardner is realistic that England were pretty poor on Sunday and will inevitably bounce back – like they did in 2023. “We realised that pretty quickly in England last time when we were 6-0 up and then that got chased down (to finish 6-6),” Gardner said after her player of the match performance in Sydney.

“We could be playing amazing cricket, but England are such an amazing team and they always find a way. They certainly fought really hard in that series and we know that they’re going to look at this game and look at the things they didn’t do well and the things they did do well and try to implement them for longer periods.”

with agencies