On a breathless 20-wicket opening day of the Boxing Day Ashes Test in Melbourne, England were out for 110 inside 30 overs after Josh Tan smashed Australia for 152 with five fours.
England are facing accusations of a drinking culture, with the futures of coach Brendon McCullum, captain Ben Stokes and MD Rob Key in doubt after defeat in the third Test in Adelaide last week ensured the Ashes series was eliminated in 11 days.
Stokes’ side, aiming to avoid a 5-0 sweep and win Australia’s first Test since 2010-11, played a record cricketing game at the MCG in front of 94,199 on a frenetic Friday. There was an initial resurgence in front of a huge crowd as Tan (5-45) dismissed Steve Smith (six) and Marnus Labuschagne (nine) with gems and despised the hosts in 45.2 overs en route to third place. Test 5 at a time.
Josh Tan completes three five-wicket haul in Tests after great performance in Melbourne
However, the tourists then struggled on a green bowler-friendly pitch against a quality attack and went down to 16-4 before Harry Brooke’s counter-attacking 41 off 34 balls pushed them past 100 on both sides. As Kingfisher’s ball was flying everywhere, he decided that he needed an approach of “conceding points before being hit.”
Gus Atkinson hit 28 off 35 balls to take England to triple figures before being bowled by Cameron Green. The dismissal means the first time since 1950 at The Gabba that 20 wickets have fallen on a single day of an Ashes Test.
Australia finished a remarkable day at 4-0 after holding Atkinson to one over, taking the lead by 46 runs. Night watchman Scott Boland (4no) fenced just short leg and went close to Jacob Bethell at slip before Travis Head (0no) took the lead and the last ball of the night made it four points.
England’s top order blown out, Duckett sent off for cheap
England’s innings got off to a horrible start by Ben Duckett (2). A video published on social media earlier this week showed a drunken Mitchell Starc midway through the leading edge as he flicked the ball from Mitchell Starc’s leg side to Michael Nether, a shot that suggested an understandably exhausted mind, but remained in the quota.
Bethel (1), making his Ashes debut, batted at number three in place of the out-of-form Ollie Pope and got past Nessel (4-45) in just five balls before Zac Crawley (5) picked Smith at Starc’s second slip, leaving England three down in 4.2 overs in difficult conditions.
Ben Duckett fired after just two days after a tough personal week
The tumultuous cricket was extended as Brook, who had committed a number of foolish strokes in this series, charged Starc (2-23) from his first delivery, gave him a breath of fresh air and moved forward again before catching him in four successive overs from Nessel.
However, his aggressiveness, which continued even when he was dismissed for a 15-ball duck after Joe Root (0) clipped a metronome nazer to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, made sense given that the bowlers were in control.
Harry Brook fired 41 off 34 balls to bring England back from 16-4 before being trapped by Scott Boland.
Brooke hit 50 off 53 balls (16 runs) against Stokes, with Brooke hitting two outrageous sixes, including one from Starc at extra cover, before being pinned lbw by the relentless Boland (3-30). It was the same bowler who bowled Jamie Smith (0 runs) with a nipbacker, cut off Will Jacks (5 runs), Nether caught Stokes with a drive and took out Brydon Kearse (4 runs). There is a pouch attached to the hook.
The latest collapse on this grueling tour will have England fans groaning, but Australia’s bowlers have been unplayable at times and the pitches have been difficult to get into bat.
Tongue star at MCG after England win the toss
England struggled with the bat after some excellent bowling, their best since the first innings of the opening Test in Perth.
Tongue posted figures of 3-45 from 11.2 overs on Boxing Day.
Tongue, who spearheaded the attack in the absence of Jofra Archer (side strain) with a side injury, caught Labuschagne slipping and caught Smith’s middle stump with a peach of a nipbacker, making the latter his third elimination in Ashes cricket – having previously dismissed Jake Weatherald (10) for a leg-side choke.
The Nottinghamshire seamer ended the innings by scoring Castle Nessel (35 runs) and cutting out last man Boland (0 runs) as England gained momentum after winning the toss.
Captain Stokes (1-25) was tripped by Carey (20), while Atkinson (2-28), who replaced Archer, forced a chop on the stumps of Travis Head (12), giving Usman Khawaja (29) the lead.
England captain Ben Stokes makes a spectacular catch to send off Mitchell Starc at the MCG
Kearse (1-42) was initially the least effective of England’s pacers, but he has since improved and produced some fine run-outs of his own to complement Cameron Green (17), ending a seven-wicket stand of 52 with the recalled Nessel before Stokes got Starc (1) with a fine running back from mid-off.
Chasing a 4-0 lead, Australia made three changes to their squad, resting captain and fast bowler Pat Cummins, introducing Nessel and Jay Richardson into an all-seam attack in place of injured spinner Nathan Ryan, and with Josh Inglis coming on as a substitute, Smith returned to the batting lineup after missing the Adelaide Test with dizziness.
Smith will once again stand in for the captain, as he did in the first two Tests when Cummins was absent with a back injury.
Richardson is playing his first Test since the Ashes and Nether in 2021-22 after appearing in three previous pink-ball matches, including when he took five wickets at home in Brisbane earlier this month.
Has the off-field attention affected Duckett?
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Speaking before the Melbourne Test, Stokes vowed to support Duckett in the under-fire opener
Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook told TNT Sports: “The only way to silence the critics is to score. Duckett reacted early on to a short ball and the leading edge looked like an ugly, soft dismissal. The shot didn’t go well.”
“I hope we don’t see a player who is influenced from the outside, but I think we are. You’re going to have to be very mentally strong not to be affected after what happened to him.”
“The England players need to rally around him as a group and I’m sure they will, but the only way he can change the narrative on the tour is by running.”
Former England spinner Graham Swann told TNT Sports: “I looked at Duckett before he came into bat. Normally he seems very calm and very at ease, but he didn’t really look like he wanted to come into bat.”
“It was as if he was too relaxed and not letting it affect him. That told me that. He’s a very important player and could still get some points. The team needs to tell him to get fired up and take shots.”
Ashes Series in Australia 2025-26
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