Australia tried enthusiastically removing England's openers – harsh! (7)
I believe the answer is:
austere
'harsh' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'australia tried enthusiastically removing england's openers' is the wordplay.
'australia' becomes 'aus' (abbreviation).
'openers' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'tried enthusiastically removing englands' is 'tere'.
'aus'+'tere'='AUSTERE'
(Other definitions for austere that I've seen before include "severely self-disciplined" , "Abstemious, strict" , "Severe, ascetic" , "Severe, lacking comforts" , "Lacking adornments" .)