Melbourne hosts crazy day with 20 wickets falling

Australia were bundled out inside the first two sessions, but then struck back by dismissing England within a single session to gain a valuable lead.

There was a thick layer of grass on the pitch, conditions that clearly favoured the fast bowlers. Add to that a series of poor shot selections from the batters, and the result was a dramatic opening day of the Boxing Day Test, with both teams completing their first innings on day one. Australia collapsed in the first two sessions, only to bowl England out in one session later in the day.

At stumps on day one of the fourth Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Australia held a 46-run lead. After being bowled out for 152, they dismissed England for just 110. Australia then reached 4 without loss in their second innings before play ended on Friday.

The day also witnessed a record crowd at the MCG. A total of 94,199 spectators were present, the highest attendance for any cricket match at the venue, breaking the previous record of 93,013 set during the 2015 World Cup final.

A total of 20 wickets fell during the day. In the history of Test cricket at the MCG, more wickets have fallen in a single day only once before—back on the opening day of the 1902 Ashes Test, when 25 wickets tumbled. There have been only two other instances of 20 wickets falling in a single day at this ground.

The pitch had 10 millimetres of grass left on it, making batting extremely difficult in seaming conditions. Across both teams, only Usman Khawaja managed to face more than 50 deliveries, surviving 52 balls. No England batter lasted even 40 balls, and only three of them scored more than five runs. Harry Brook’s 41 was the highest individual score of the day.

English pacer Josh Tongue produced a brilliant spell, taking five wickets for 45 runs in just his second match of the series. However, the standout all-round performer for Australia was Michael Neser. The 35-year-old scored 35 off 49 balls and then claimed four wickets for 45 runs with the ball.

The series had already been decided in the previous Test, with Australia leading 3–0 and retaining the Ashes. In Melbourne, however, the hosts were without regular captain Pat Cummins and spinner Nathan Lyon.

England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl. Australia started brightly, scoring 27 runs without loss in the first six overs, but the collapse began soon after. Travis Head dragged a Gus Atkinson delivery onto his stumps to give England the breakthrough.

Jake Weatherald edged Tongue outside leg stump to the wicketkeeper, and in the following over Marnus Labuschagne drove outside off stump only to be caught in the slips. Tongue then produced a superb delivery to bowl Steven Smith.

From 27 without loss, Australia slumped to 51 for 4.

Khawaja tried to steady the innings with Alex Carey, adding 38 runs for the fifth wicket. Just after lunch, Khawaja was caught behind off a fine Atkinson delivery, a decision overturned after England took a review. Carey then gifted his wicket with a loose shot, offering a simple catch at leg gully to Stokes.

At 91 for 6, Australia’s highest partnership came for the seventh wicket, as Cameron Green and Neser added 52 runs. Green was run out after a sharp throw from Brydon Carse, scoring 17 off 34 balls.

Australia could not recover further and lost their final three wickets to be bowled out for 152. Tongue completed his five-wicket haul by dismissing Neser and Scott Boland within three balls.

He became the first England bowler in the 21st century to take a five-wicket haul in a Test at the MCG.

England’s joy with the ball quickly disappeared once they began batting. They lost their first four wickets for just 16 runs, with none of the top-order batters reaching double figures.

Ben Duckett played a loose shot to Mitchell Starc and was dismissed. Jacob Bethell was caught behind off a superb Neser delivery. Starc then removed Zak Crawley in his next over, claiming his 24th wicket of the series. The catch at slip was taken by Steven Smith, who moved past Rahul Dravid’s tally of 210 catches to become the second-highest catch-taker in Test history as a fielder.

Joe Root was dismissed for a duck after facing 16 balls, caught behind off another excellent delivery from Neser.

Under pressure, Harry Brook and Stokes added 50 runs for the fifth wicket, but once that partnership was broken, wickets fell in quick succession again.

Brook scored 41 off 34 balls, hitting two fours and two sixes, before being trapped lbw by Neser. During that innings, he reached 3,000 Test runs in just 57 innings, the joint-fastest by an England player since 1930.

Scott Boland then struck three times in three consecutive overs, dismissing Brook, Jamie Smith, and Will Jacks. Neser removed Stokes and Carse in successive overs, and Atkinson was the last man out, scoring 28 off 35 balls.

England’s total of 110 is their third-lowest Test score in Australia since 2000. They were bowled out for 68 at the same venue in 2021 and for 79 at the Gabba in 2002.

In Australia’s second innings, Boland was sent out as the nightwatchman alongside Head. He was dropped at fifth slip off Atkinson’s fifth delivery, with Bethell unable to hold the catch. Boland then ended the day by hitting a boundary off the final ball.