England were bowled out for 110 inside 30 overs after Josh Tongue’s five-for had rolled Australia for 152 on a chaotic 20-wicket opening day of the fourth Ashes Test.
Playing in front of a record crowd of 94,199 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia ended the day 46 runs ahead of England after starting their second innings 4-0.
After winning the toss, England sent Australia to bat and made a fast start as Travis Head (12) and Jake Weatherald (10) fell inside the first 11 overs of the match.
Tongue, fresh from sending off Weatherald, then added Marnus Labuschagne (six) and Steve Smith (nine) to his list before Gus Atkinson (2-28), who replaced the injured Jofra Archer in the side, eliminated Usman Khawaja (29).
Ben Stokes then scored with the big wicket of Alex Carey (20) when Cameron Green was run out by Brydon Carse on 17, and although Michael Neser (35) steadied the ship somewhat, he fell to Tongue, who ended Australia’s innings with the dismissal of Scott Boland (0).
However, England limped out of the blocks and found themselves at 16-4 when Ben Duckett (two), Jacob Bethell (one), Zak Crawley (five) and Joe Root (0) were dismissed.
But Harry Brook revived the tourists’ hopes even after a swipe and miss on his first delivery from Mitchell Starc, plundering 41 off 34 deliveries before being bowled lbw by Boland, who finished the innings with figures of 3-30.
Brook’s dismissal began a period in which England scored just 25 runs for the loss of five wickets, with Stokes (16) and Atkinson (28) taking their team above 100 before Neser (4-45) and Green (1-0) struck to end a frenzied day of action.
A remarkable day of Ashes cricket comes to an end. pic.twitter.com/DMvjsbrjqV
— English cricket (@englandcricket) December 26, 2025
Data Debrief: Madness at the MCG
The folly of this opening day in Melbourne was summed up by Boland, who started at number 11 in the first innings and opened Australia’s batting in the second innings alongside Head, with spectators hoping for more of the same on day two.
Indeed, the number of 20 wickets to fall is the highest on the opening day of an Ashes Test since 1909, surpassing the 19 on the first day of the first Test of this series in Perth.
And in what has been a disappointing series for the tourists, Tongue was able to hold his head high after his sensational display. The last England player to take more wickets in a men’s Test innings at the MCG than Tongue was Dean Headley (6-60 against Australia) in December 1998.
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