Australia Told They Have Two ‘Vulnerabilities’ Despite First Ashes Test Win

England have opened up 'some vulnerabilities' in Australia despite losing the first Ashes Test in Perth, according to 2005 and 2009 Ashes winner Steve Harmison.

Australia chased down a target of 205 in their second innings thanks to Travis Head's blistering 123.

Head had been promoted to open the batting after Usman Khawaja suffered back spasms while fielding and, as per ICC regulations relating to time spent off the field, was forced to bat down the order.

The 38-year-old faced similar problems during England's first innings, and came in at four after Australia promoted Marnus Labuschagne to open with Jake Weatherald.

They conceded a first innings deficit of 40 runs after being bowled out for 132, with only Alex Carey (26) passing 25 runs.

But England failed to capitalise, despite being 65 for 1 and leading by 105 at lunch on day two.

Their middle order subsequently collapsed as they lost their next five wickets for 39 runs, before their lower order offered some effective - yet ultimately not enough - resistance to get to 164 all out.

Australia then comfortably chased down their target thanks to Head's heroics.

With the Test being over inside two days, that has meant the prospect of a 12-day gap for both sets of players until the second Test match starts in Brisbane on December 4.

Although significant focus has been on the manner of England's defeat, Harmison thinks there are still plenty of positives that Ben Stokes' side can take from Perth - including the 'opening up of some scars' for the hosts.

Speaking to SPORTbible on behalf of Grosvenor Sport, official sponsors of England Cricket on TNT Sports, Harmison said: "That's the biggest thing Stokes and McCullum have got to be drumming into the team [where they were after the first innings].

"I'd keep the same team. I wouldn't change it. I'd say, 'You got us into this mess, you get us out of this mess. You are the best 11 that we thought, going into the first Test match, to play, to win a game'.

"And the actual pitch and surroundings are very similar to what Perth was. So [they might be saying], because of that, we feel as though the game plan we had on day one worked. Day two, we could have been a bit smarter, we lost the game. We know that. But we make sure that when we get into this situation, it doesn't happen again.

"What we have done is we've opened some scars. We've opened up some vulnerabilities. We are potentially making a 38-year-old, great Australian player retire in Usman Khawaja. We'll have somebody else new in the middle order, if it's not somebody at the top of the order.

"All of these things have got to be positives going into this Gabba Test match. I think the vulnerabilities that Australia showed would make me, make us as a group, encouraged that we can beat Australia on any given day. I think that is something that England need to replicate very quickly when they get to the Gabba."

Australia have a number of options to replace Khawaja if he is either not passed fit due to his back problem or is simply left out.

The reserve batter in their squad for the Perth Test was Josh Inglis, who scored a century for a Cricket Australia XI in a four-day match against the England Lions last week.

The consistent nature of Australia's selection in terms of batting - and Alex Carey's status as first-choice wicket-keeper - means Inglis has been limited to three Test matches.

He scored a century on debut against Sri Lanka in January as Australia piled on 654 for six in Galle, but only scored 17 runs in his other three innings.

Another option could be Queensland opener Matt Renshaw, who scored 112 during his side's latest Sheffield Shield match.

On how he believes Australia would adapt if Khawaja is left out, Harmison added: "Usman Khawaja is 38 years old. If he doesn't play in this Test match, and Josh Inglis comes in, and Travis goes to the top, you've got to give Inglis two Test matches. You aren't going to pick Khawaja after that.

"All of a sudden, they're going to go from a very conservative side who absorbed the game with Khawaja, Smith and Labuschagne, to have Head goes up the top, Inglis comes in at five or six."

"They're going to go for Bazball," he continued. "They've slagged Bazball off before the series, and the media are slagging it off now. So they've slagged Bazball off and they're going to go and play it, if they leave Khawaja out."