England's Ashes nightmare deepened on Boxing Day as 20 wickets tumbled on a chaotic opening day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The tourists were bowled out for just 110 runs before collapsing to 39 for four in reply to Australia's 152, marking the most wickets to fall on day one of an Ashes Test since 1909.
The carnage began early as England folded in just 29.5 overs. Ben Duckett managed only two runs, Jacob Bethell scored a single on his Ashes debut, Zak Crawley fell for five, and Joe Root suffered a 15-ball duck - his second nought of the series.
Only Harry Brook offered resistance with an aggressive 41 from 34 balls, including two sixes off Mitchell Starc. The vice-captain's innings prevented "complete implosion" after England slumped to eight for three. His 50-run partnership with Ben Stokes came off just 50 balls before Scott Boland trapped him lbw with a delivery that moved 16 centimeters after pitching.
England's bowling finds success
Josh Tongue spearheaded England's improved bowling performance, taking five for 45 after the team adjusted their length. England bowled significantly fuller at an average of 6.89 meters compared to 7.85 meters in the first three Tests.
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell told Test Match Special: «England just bowled better, and they put it in good areas.» He added: «It is not rocket science. The pitch wasn't seaming everywhere, it was just holding a little bit – that's why England won the toss and had a bowl.»
Tongue dismissed Steve Smith for the fourth consecutive first-class innings between them, while Gus Atkinson claimed Travis Head's wicket and contributed 28 runs with the bat. Brydon Carse ran out Cameron Green with a direct hit.
Pitch draws criticism
The MCG surface, left with 10 millimeters of grass by groundsman Matt Page, drew sharp criticism from former players. Former England bowler Stuart Broad said: «The pitch is doing too much if I'm brutally honest. Test match bowlers don't need this amount of movement to look threatening.»
Michael Vaughan, England's 2005 Ashes-winning captain, told BBC's Test Match Special: «The pitch is a shocker for a Test match on the first day. It has just done far too much.»
Australia began their second innings at four for no wicket, holding a 46-run lead. It marked only the third time in Test history that the third innings of a match began on day one.
Record crowd witnesses carnage
Despite the one-sided series, a record crowd of 94,199 packed the MCG for the Boxing Day Test - the highest attendance for a cricket match at the venue. The figure surpassed the previous record of 93,013 set during the 2015 World Cup final.
The match also featured a commemorative moment at 3.50pm for Shane Warne, who died in 2022 aged 52 from a heart attack. The time reflected Warne's Australian Test cap number 350, with his children Jackson and Brooke joined by Ricky Ponting and Michael Vaughan.
England's Christmas spirits had improved since their COVID-era tour four years ago. Stuart Broad recounted on the For Love of Cricket podcast how staff at their previous venue in St Kilda seemed to have forgotten the food, with Ben Stokes exclaiming: «I'm not having this, what is going on?!» An insider described this year's meal at the team hotel as "the best Christmas meal we've ever had."
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
