Nine misses first ball of Ashes James Pattinson in action. Channel Nine was so excited about the first ball of the Ashes series that they actually missed it. Several people took to Twitter to voice their outrage, so the network responded with its own tweet, kindly letting followers know what happened: "First ball is a wide from @jpattinson19 just like Harmison in 2007! Are @CricketAus in for a 5-0 whitewash? It was an erratic first over from James Pattinson, although his first ball wide was far less dramatic than Harmison's six years ago. The big news was the surprise selection of 19-year-old debutant spinner Ashton Agar, who replaced the unlucky Nathan Lyon. David Warner also missed out following his suspension for a late-night altercation with England opener Joe Root. Steve Smith came in and is down to bat at number six. Pattinson took the first wicket of the series, the prized scalp of England skipper Alistair Cook, who was caught behind for 13.