The Boxing Day Ashes Test between Australia and England moved at a rollicking pace on Day 1 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as a total of 20 wickets fell as bowlers from both sides made merry.
The track offered a lot of assistance for the pacers and 10mm grass came into full play with batters looking at all sea. The game started off with England captain Ben Stokes winning the toss and opting to bowl. Josh Tongue vindicated the call, returning with five wickets, helping the visitors bowl out Australia for 152, with Michael Neser top scoring with 35.
England, who were 0-3 heading into the fourth Test, would have had their hopes up of finally gaining the upper hand in an Ashes Test in the 2025-26 series, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. As once again, the England batters showed so stomach for a fight, going after the bowling from ball number 1 and throwing their wickets away.
England’s batting innings got off to the worst start possible as Stokes and co were reduced to 16/4 at one stage with Ben Duckett (2), Jacob Bethell (1), Zak Crawley (5) and Joe Root (0) all going back to the hut.
Harry Brook played a knock of 41 runs off 34 balls, while Gus Atkinson scored 28, and these two knocks somehow enabled England to surpass the 100-run mark, reducing Australia’s lead to just 42. For Australia, Neser took four wickets while Scott Boland scalped three.
The final England wicket fell in time, and Australia just had to bat out one over. The hosts then sent Scott Boland as the nightwatchman, covering up for Jake Weatherald. Boland played out the entire over and managed to get a boundary off the final ball of the day, extending Australia’s lead to 46.
Record crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
The MCG witnessed a record crowd on the opening day of the fourth Test between Australia and England. 94,199 fans turned up on Friday, marking the highest crowd ever recorded for a cricket match at the venue.
The historic crowd surpassed the previous record of 93,013, set during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup Final between Australia and New Zealand. The attendance also set a new record for the highest single-day attendance in Test cricket, surpassing the 91,112 spectators who attended the MCG for Day 1 of the 2013 Boxing Day Test between Australia and England.
Coming back to cricket, the haul of 20 wickets is the sixth most to fall on the opening day of a Test between Australia and England. It is the fifth most wickets to fall on the opening day of any Test in Australia.
“The ball was nipping around, and we needed to bowl in the right areas. A dream come true. You need to put pressure back on their bowlers; the ball is nipping around. You need to find the perfect balance between defence and attack,” said Neser while speaking to the broadcasters after Australia bundled out England for 110.