England have done it. After 14 years, they have finally won a Test match in Australia. They won the 4th Ashes Test by 4 wickets. Oddly, instead of praising the English, all the attention is on the numbers behind the Test victory. On the Aussie side, the pitchforks and torches are out for certain players and the pitch.
England ended an 18-match winless streak in Australia and avoided an Ashes clean sweep in a staggering and absurd two-day Test in Melbourne. In one of the most bizarre matches ever played, England chased 175 to win on the second evening of the fourth Test, leaving the series at 3-1 before the finale in Sydney.
In devilishly difficult batting conditions, England's Bazballers revelled in the chaos as they finally found a situation in Australia to suit their freewheeling method. They reached their target inside 33 overs, England's four-wicket victory delighting the thousands of travelling fans who finally have something to celebrate on a hitherto miserable tour.
The chance of a first Test victory in Australia since 2011 was created when England dismissed the home side for 132 in their second innings at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Brydon Carse claimed 4-34 and captain Ben Stokes 3-24 to cover for the loss of Gus Atkinson, who is a doubt for the fifth Test after sustaining a hamstring injury.
To add to the silliness, Carse then arrived as a pinch-hitter at number three after Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett struck 51 in 6.5 overs - England's highest opening partnership of the series. Crawley made 37, Duckett 34 and Jacob Bethell justified his recall with a classy 40.
The winning runs came off the thigh pad of Harry Brook, drawing a deafening roar from the Barmy Army - the corner of England supporters - at the end of a breathtaking day.
"A good feeling, a tough tour up to now," said England skipper, Ben Stokes. "After the build-up to the Test, a lot thrown our way, to put in a performance on the back of all that and beat a very good Australian team, a lot of credit has to go to players, staff and management for keeping the focus on cricket. Very proud. We showed bravery and were courageous."
England crashed in the first three Tests and came to Melbourne under enormous pressure amid questions about their limited preparations and allegations of excessive drinking during a mid-series beach break.
They finally came good and will head to Sydney for the fifth and final Test; brimming with confidence.
England had not won a Test in Australia since January 2011 at Sydney, losing 16 and drawing two since and openers Crawley and Ben Duckett had a clear objective to snap the streak – play ultra-aggressive "Bazball" style.
Australia resumed Day 2 on 4-0 in their second innings after an explosive opening day of searing pace saw 20 wickets fall with the hosts dismissed for 152 and England just 110. It was the most wickets to tumble on the first day of an Ashes Test since 1909 and eclipsed the 19 on day one of the series opener in Perth.
With 10mm of grass on the track, it was a bowler’s dream but a host of former greats criticised the pitch for "doing too much" and being "unfair for the batters."
Nightwatchman, Scott Boland, edged Gus Atkinson to wicketkeeper, Jamie Smith but the bowler left the field soon after clutching his left hamstring.
Josh Tongue came into the attack on a hat-trick after bagging the last two Australia wickets on day one but Jake Weatherald whipped his full ball for three. Weatherald needed a decent knock to cement his spot at the top of the order but he failed again; bowled by Stokes for five and leaving a delivery that nipped back.
Travis Head was joined by Marnus Labuschagne but the latter only made eight, caught by Root in the slips off Tongue. Head was in good touch before being bowled on 46 by a peach of a delivery from Carse that beat the outside edge and when Usman Khawaja (0) and Alex Carey (4) departed in the space of nine balls; the momentum was back with England.
Carse bagged Neser and Starc without scoring and Richardson fell to Stokes with the last four wickets tumbling for 13 runs; leaving Steve Smith unbeaten on 24.
*There was a masive gap of 5 246 days since England's previous win in Australia and their victory at the MCG on Saturday. Since their win at the SCG in January 2011, England had played 18 Tests in Australia and lost 16, the joint-longest winless streak for any team in Australia.
There have been 3 bilateral series' with more than one Test ending inside two days before the 2025-26 Ashes. Australia's tour of England in 1888 had three such matches, while England's tour of South Africa in 1888-89 and 1895-96 also had two Tests that ended in two days. The 1912 triangular tournament, hosted by England featuring Australia and South Africa, also had two two-day Test matches.
Australia only faced 479 balls (79.5 overs) in the Melbourne Test - their fewest in a match since the Brisbane Test in the 1928 Ashes; when they were bundled out twice in 457 balls (76.1 overs). Don Bradman made his Test debut in that Brisbane Test, where Charles Kelleway (both innings) and Jack Gregory (second innings) were absent due to injury.
Australia scored 284 runs in Melbourne, their second-lowest aggregate in a home Test since 1928, behind the 246 runs against South Africa in Hobart in 2016.
Joe Root has played 17 Tests in Australia without a victory until this MCG Test. Former New Zealand captain, Daniel Vettori, now holds the record for the most Tests in Australia without a win - 12. Ben Stokes also went 12 Tests in Australia without victory until the win in Melbourne.
Travis Head's score of 46 runs in the second innings in Melbourne was the highest individual score of the Test, making it only the fifth men's Test in Australia with no batter scoring a fifty. Overall, it is the 17th such Test in men's cricket.
There were no overs bowled by spinners in Melbourne - the first such Test in Australia. The previous fewest balls bowled by spinners in a Test in Australia was 12 - in the 1984 WACA Test (Perth) against West Indies. Nathan Lyon and Joe Root collectively bowled 18 balls in the Perth Test earlier this series, which is the third fewest.
There was a bowling strike rate of 39.02 in the five Tests played in Australia in 2025. It is the lowest strike rate for any host nation in a year with five or more Tests. The previous best was 43.8 in five Tests in South Africa in 2019.
Across their 11 Tests in 2025, Australia's bowlers had a strike rate of 36.7, the second best for a team in a year (minimum of five Tests) behind England's 32.7 in six Tests in 1896.
A total of 852 balls were bowled in the Melbourne Test - the tenth fewest in a completed match - only five more than the Perth Test.
5 571 balls have been bowled in the 2025-26 Ashes so far - the third fewest across the first four matches of a Test series. The first four matches of the 1902 Ashes had only 4675 balls; while the 1985-86 Wisden Trophy (England vs. West Indies) had only 5 513 balls bowled in the first four games.*
In the first innings, Harry Brook delivered a vital counter-attack after England were reduced to 16-4, scoring a 34-ball 41 featuring two fours and two sixes. However, as has been the case throughout the series, a promising knock was cut short, this time by Scott Boland.
In 34 Tests, Brook has amassed 3 034 runs at an average of 54.17, with 10 centuries and 14 fifties across 57 innings; maintaining a strike rate of over 86. Reaching the landmark in just 3 468 deliveries, Brook is the fastest to the milestone by balls faced.
He also becomes the joint second-fastest England player to reach 3 000 runs, equaling Denis Compton's mark of 57 innings. The overall record for the fewest innings to reach 3 000 runs is held by Australian icon, Don Bradman, who achieved it in just 33 innings.
Fastest to 3 000 Test runs (by balls faced)
3 468 - Harry Brook
3 610 - Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
4 047 - David Warner (Australia)
4 095 - Rishabh Pant (India)
4 129 - Virender Sehwag (India)
This year, Brook has scored 753 runs in 10 Tests and 17 innings at an average of 44.29, with a strike rate of over 82; including two centuries, four fifties and a best score of 158.
Currently, during his Ashes series debut, Brook is the fifth-highest run-getter, scoring 214 runs in seven innings at 30.57, with a strike rate over 78, including his best score of 52, his solitary fifty, at Perth during the first Test. His first Aussie Test tour has seen him showcase some glimpses of promise.
English fast bowler, Josh Tongue, made history by becoming the first bowler from his team to take a five-wicket haul in the prestigious Boxing Day Test at the MCG in the 21st century; playing a crucial role in cutting short Australia's innings to just two sessions.
Tongue produced the aggression, ruthlessness and venom that England fans had been waiting for. Having already lost the Ashes Test series and extending their wait for their first triumph in Australia since 2010/11, England and particularly Tongue, came to MCG for the prestigious fixture with vengeance in their eyes.
Playing for the Three Lions badge on the chest, Tongue played for the fiery English pride, which has suffered many wounds in Australia since their last Ashes series win there, having been winless in the last 18 Tests there.
Darren Gough and Dean Headley took a five-for at the MCG in 1998.
England’s Boxing Day Test triumph may have ended one of their most painstaking Ashes droughts but there is an overwhelming sensation of frustration towards Ben Stokes’ side among the English press as well as greats of the game.
With the Ashes gone in 11 days, England’s bowlers finally came to play in Melbourne led by a first innings five-wicket haul from Johnny Mullagh medallist Josh Tongue and four wickets to a much-improved Brydon Carse in the second innings.
For former England captains, Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain, their nation’s first win on Australian soil since 2011 was no more than sugar hit and doesn't paper over the cracks that formed across the first three Tests as well as the lead-in to this tour.
"I am delighted for Stokes, (Joe) Root and the supporters but it is a hollow victory because of what might have been," Atherton said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast. "It is almost like England are competitive now after playing some cricket, which is ridiculous. Australia have missed Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon for all or part of the series and have a batting line-up with flaws, so that is the frustration for England. A huge frustration."
Hussain added: "If England play well in Sydney [in the final Test], as they did in Melbourne and at the end of Adelaide, then that frustrates me more. Imagine if they had prepared properly and done the basics in Perth, we could have been going to Sydney 2-2. If anything it shows they didn’t focus in before a ball was bowled."
Much of the talk coming out of the Old Dart before the series began centred upon a belief that Australia were ripe for the picking this summer.
Stuart Broad infamously called the current crop the worst Australia team since 2010/11 - when England won 3-1 on these shores - and perhaps he was right as they were the first Australian team to lose a Test to England at home in almost 15 years.
Regardless, the bowler-friendly MCG surface exposed Australia’s frailties with the bat that have been a talking point for several years but have been not proven too costly courtesy of their superb bowling attack and the brilliance of a few individuals with the willow.
"Some of us ex-player "has-beens" have been saying before and during this tour that the Aussie batting is ordinary, dependent on (Steve) Smith and (Travis) Head. That batting line-up in the second innings showed how poor some of them are," England great, Sir Geoffrey Boycott, wrote in The Telegraph.
"I take nothing away from the quality of the England seamers but some of those dismissals were shockers.” With no batter able to reach a half-century in Melbourne, Boycott believed that the batters needed to call on the techniques of a bygone era, when matches were played on uncovered wickets."
"It just goes to show how modern batsmen do not really have a clue how to defend on a seaming pitch," Boycott wrote. “Footwork is the key. Get right forward, as near to the pitch of the ball as you can, so that you minimise the distance between where the ball pitches and where you play it. The less distance the ball has to travel and the less movement before you meet it gives you a better chance of playing it in the middle of your bat. And do not push out with the bat way in front of your pad. Keep it close and just in front with your head over the ball."
"When the ball is short, move back covering your stumps, but let the ball come to you and play it close to your body, not away from the body. Too many modern guys go hard at the ball, but ideally you should wait and play as late as possible so that you can go with any swing or late movement."
It remains to be seen whether winning a Test, unlike the previous three touring parties to Australia, washes away the sins of this tour.
"What this result means for the future of managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum is unclear. Neither man could have expected to survive a whitewash, especially after admitting they failed to prepare the side properly for the very specific conditions they faced in the first Test at Perth," Lawrence Booth wrote in The Daily Mail.
"The stubborn loyalty to (Ollie) Pope is another black mark against the management, though for that Stokes must take his share of the blame. On the flipside, both (Zak) Crawley and (Brydon) Carse have pulled their weight after enduring difficult moments, while Stokes and McCullum deserve credit for keeping the show on the road after it threatened to veer into a ditch amid the Noosa scrutiny."
"The ECB may yet decide that, even if the damage is limited to 3–2 by the time England fly home, at least one head must roll. After all, whatever happens at the SCG, the urn will remain in Australian hands until 2027 at least. And a 4–1 defeat will invite fresh scrutiny."
"But if England can win a Test on a pitch worthy of the name, and match the achievement of the 2010-11 series when they won at Melbourne and Sydney, there will be a genuine case for sticking with the status quo and allowing the team to mature all the way through until 2027."
On the Aussie side, cricket fans were confused by Steve Smith's move that might have cost the Aussies in the fourth Ashes Test.
Steve Smith has been brilliant as captain throughout the Ashes series, filling in to aplomb for Pat Cummins in the first, second and fourth Tests. Cricket fans and commentators were left questioning whether he made a massive tactical blunder on day two at the MCG that might have cost Australia valuable runs.
Smith finished on 24* as Australia were bowled out for just 132 in their second innings, before England chased down the target of 175 for their first Test win in Australia in 15 years. Smith was standing at the non-striker's end when Jhye Richardson was dismissed for 7 for the final wicket of Australia's second dig.
It left fans and commentators confused as to why Smith was happy to give no.11 batter Richardson so much of the strike. England put the field back when Smith was on strike and allowed him easy singles and the Australian captain was happy to oblige.
On a number of occasions, Smith took a single early in the over and allowed Richardson to face the other balls. Smith did appear to be trying to hit twos and boundaries but when it didn't work; he was happy to expose Richardson to the strike.
To be fair, Richardson has a batting average of 21.24 in first-class cricket and is definitely no mug. He played one lovely drive down the ground and managed 7 from 10 balls before playing a wild shot and holing out.
At one point when Smith took a single early in the over, Michael Vaughan said in commentary for Fox Cricket: "I'm not sure I agree with that." Fans were also stunned that Smith wasn't farming the strike more considering he was the set batter and had the chance to peel off another 20 or 30 valuable runs by staying on strike.
Considering England only had four wickets in hand on a treacherous pitch when they won, Smith's decision to expose Richardson loomed as a very costly mistake. There's no saying how many more runs Smith could've got by himself, but surely it was a better option than allowing Richardson to face 10 balls.
One person wrote on social media: "Why the hell did Smudge give strike to Richardson when they are 9 down?" Another commented: "Richardson is a very decent bat, but still that’s poor management from Smith. Probably left another 15+ runs out there."
The two day bender has reared it's ugly head, financially. Cricket Australia (CA) have left a huge financial hole for Australian cricket that could reach a reported Aus $10m. That is the expected loss in revenue after the match on an excessively bowler-friendly surface at a packed MCG finished with three days to spare.
A sell-out crowd of more than 90 000 was due for day three, including a travelling English contingent of up to 20 000 and the lack of play will mean an avalanche of refunds as well as lost sales in merchandise, food and drinks.
A similar situation played out when Australia won in two days in Perth, where losses ran to an expected Aus $3m. The ground curator, Matthew Page, is facing criticism after turning in a surface with a lavish 10mm of live grass that made batting a perilous endeavour.
Todd Greenberg, CA’s chief executive, was desperate to avoid such a scenario, telling SEN Radio before play on the second morning: "A simple phrase I’d use is – short Tests are bad for business. I can’t be much more blunt than that."
"Historically, we have taken a hands-off approach in all of our wicket preparation … but it’s hard not to get more involved when you see the impact on the sport, particularly commercially."
Australia’s acting captain, Steve Smith, did not seem too concerned by his side’s rapid win in the first Test but was less content after coming out on the losing side. "The finances aren’t great and I think it was a sell-out tomorrow," he said.
"We saw 36 wickets in two days and that indicates it was a pretty tricky wicket. It probably offered a little bit too much. A lot of the Tests have been played in fast forward and this one was over in two days, not ideal. It would be good if it was a little bit longer and we were able to entertain the fans some more."
The former England captain, Nasser Hussain, said the pitch turned the match into a farce. "I don’t think it’s acceptable not having spin at all and having so much movement in the surface," he told Sky Sports. "It was farcical at times and when things are farcical it is thrilling to watch, but there are traditionalists still in Test match cricket."
Todd Greenberg has flagged the possibility of the governing body playing a bigger role in the oversight of the preparation of pitches after 36 wickets fell in six sessions and the fourth Ashes Test at the MCG finished on day two. After 20 wickets tumbled on day one on Friday, another 16 fell on day two on Saturday as England won by six wickets for their first win in Australia in 15 years.
Australia made just 152 in the first innings, while England only made 110. In the second innings it was Australia making 132 before England finished on 178-6. The highest individual score for the match was Travis Head's 46 in the second dig.
On Saturday, a number of the Aussie batters were struck on the body by balls that reared up off a length and the conditions appeared even trickier.
The demons of the 2017-18 Ashes bore-draw was the chief factor in the Melbourne Cricket Club producing a Boxing Day pitch tilted too heavily towards favouring fast bowling and which failed to get the fourth Ashes Test into a third day.
Todd Greenberg has vowed that his organisation would undertake an end-of-season review of the management of Test wickets around the country as administrators grapple with balancing a preference for seam-friendly surfaces with the aggressive batting tactics teams are now using to combat them.
Greenberg expects the financial shortfall from this week's lost days of cricket to cost CA more than $10 million, conceding the deficit "stings" after forfeiting around half that amount last month from this series’ other two-day Test in Perth.
"With the way batters are batting and the way the game is evolving, are the preparation of our wickets in lockstep with that?" Greenberg said on Sunday. "If they're not, how do we make sure that they are so that we can try to balance the commercial imperatives versus the performance?"
The Melbourne Cricket Club took responsibility for a regrettable surface that produced 36 wickets in only 142 overs. Head curator, Matt Page, explained he left 10mm of grass on the drop-in surface in anticipation of hot weather during the back part of the Test, the biggest on this country's cricket calendar.
The verdict from the International Cricket Council’s match referee, Jeff Crowe, is expected to land on Monday at the latest. Players and administrators are understood to be bracing for an "unsatisfactory" rating.
Page has earnt widespread plaudits for reinvigorating an MCG pitch that reached a low point in 2017 when more than 1 000 runs were scored and only 24 wickets were taken in a turgid five-day drawn Ashes Test.
The aftermath of that has seen the MCC, along with CA, lean towards providing seam-friendly conditions that promote more entertaining cricket. Channel Seven announced this Melbourne Test reached its largest TV and streaming audience underlined the sense that viewers have enjoyed the shift.
Page admitted he had been in a "state of shock" to find he had tilted the balance too far towards fast bowlers. "I've never been involved in a Test match like it and hopefully am never involved in a Test match like it again," Page told reporters as the iconic venue's turf boss admirably fronted reporters on Sunday. "It was a rollercoaster ride for two days to see everything unfold."
There was widespread sympathy for the tightrope curators walk and the number of variables they must take into consideration when producing a Test pitch.
"I feel for him," said Australia opener, Travis Head, whose second innings of 46 was the highest score of the Test. "It's bloody tough. You leave 1 or 2mm on with high-quality bowling, you find yourself short, or you take 2 or 3mm with high-quality batting and you leave yourself the other way."
"Everyone wants to see someone win. Everyone wants to see wickets. No one wants to see a bloke get 300. There needs to be a balance, and sometimes we're going to see the balance, like last week (the third Test in Adelaide) err to the batters, and some weeks we're going to see it err to the bowlers."
Page had been surprised by the amount of bounce this week's wicket offered after it spent a whole day under covers last Sunday when the ground received 25mm of rain. This MCG pitch actually had less grass on it than the one he produced for the 2021-22 Ashes Test (which sported 11mm), as well as the 2019-20 Test against New Zealand (12mm). Those matches finished in three and four days respectively.
The curator's conundrum was illustrated by the fact Page's data suggested the 2023-24 Pakistan Test wicket produced more seam movement than this week despite that pitch featuring only 8mm of grass. Last summer's five-day epic against India was played on a surface featuring 7mm.
"We don't want to go back to where we were in 2017," said Page, who moved to the 'G in 2018 having been brought across from the WACA in Perth.
"Our grass is vitally important to what we do. We don't get inconsistent bounce, we don't get deterioration in our pitches and we're trying to balance that contest between bat and ball over the four or five days to provide that captivating Test for all."
"We left it longer because we knew we were going to get weather at the back end that we knew we needed our grass for. You look back at it and you go well, 'It's favoured the bowlers too much day one, day two'. If that doesn't happen, then we set ourselves up really good for day three, day four."
Unlike other countries, groundstaff at Australian venues remain fiercely independent. The commercial realities of fast-forward Tests have been laid bare in recent weeks after the Ashes series commenced with a two-day Test at Perth Stadium.
The pitch for that match was rated "very good" by the ICC, underscoring the difficulty Greenberg faces in the aftermath of his first Ashes series as CEO. "Clearly the preparation of wickets has such a material impact on us as a business, and so I don't think we can just simply sit around without asking some questions of ourselves," he said.
"What that looks like, I'm not sure. Don't get me wrong – you're not going to see us on the roller and trying to take over wicket preparation. We've been very good in this country at trusting those in each of our stadiums to prepare wickets with characteristics that are unique to each of them. I'm not suggesting we change that, but we want to have a little bit of insight into what we're about to expect and some of the expectations we will have at our venues. I don't know exactly how that will play out."
"But I don't think I can sit here with a straight face and say that we won't look at that given we've experienced two two-day Tests in the last four Tests."
Back on the field, Aussie batter, Marnus Labuschagne, has had a tricky year in Test cricket. He began 2025 with his place under threat after two single-digit dismissals in Sydney during the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He was dropped after the World Test Championship final, having failed to make it out of the 20s in his first seven innings of the year.
However, after missing Australia's Test series in the West Indies with Cameron Green moving up to no.3, Labuschagne mounted a comeback. He scored two centuries in the Sheffield Shield and averaged 47.33 ahead of the Ashes and hit three List A hundreds from his first four matches of the season. When Australia announced their XI for the first Test in Perth, Labuschagne was recalled, having made an unequivocal case for his inclusion.
Despite being dismissed for nine in his first innings of the series, Labuschagne's domestic form initially looked to carry over into the Test arena. He hit back-to-back half-centuries in his following two innings, finishing unbeaten on 51 at Perth and hitting 65 in the first innings at Brisbane. However, his returns have nosedived since, with his next five innings reading: 3; 19; 13; 6 and 8.
At the MCG on a tough batting surface, Labuschagne nicked off to Josh Tongue for six on Boxing Day and fell to an almost identical dismissal on day two. He was visibly unhappy about the dismissal, however, after the third umpire deemed Joe Root to have taken a clean catch on review.
That dismissal marked the end of Labuschagne's final innings in Test cricket in 2025, with the fifth Ashes Test set to take place in the New Year. Labsuchagne's Test average for the year is sealed at 20.84 – the third lowest for a top four Australia batter in history. It's the lowest average for a top four Australia batter in a calendar this century, with the overall record (18.86) being set by John Dyson in 1981.
Calls are growing for all-rounder, Cameron Green, to be dropped as Australia face up to four selection issues in their top seven after crashing to their first home Ashes loss in 15 years. New opener, Jake Weatherald; no.3 Marnus Labuschagne and Green were placed in the gun after their double failures at the MCG.
Veteran, Usman Khawaja, who batted at no.5 in the Boxing Day Test, could retire after the end of this series after recently turning 39. Weatherald and Labuschagne appear certainties to make it to the fifth and final Test at the SCG, starting on 4 January.
Green's spot is under major threat after averaging just 18.66 with the bat this series. After returning from injury for the World Test Championship final in June and batting at no.3, the 26-year-old has gradually slid back down the order.
Green has kept fellow all-rounder, Beau Webster, who performed strongly in seven Tests this year, out of the team this summer. Cricket fans lashed out online after Green's latest failures at the MCG.
"They should have a Classic Catches-style phone-in vote for Cameron Green's worst dismissal of the summer," one wrote. "A "generational talent" who averages less than the busted flush Ollie Pope? Of course he'll get another chance. He's really tall," commented another.
"Series wrapped up. Should’ve been dropped for Boxing Day Test too. Webster needs to get a game," wrote a third. "Way too many chances. Overrated and time for Webster to come back in the side," another said.
Green was also blasted by former Test star turned Channel Seven commentator, Simon Katich, over his dismissal in the second innings, which saw him caught out while charging the bowler. "It's just premeditated batting," Katich said. "You're making a decision before you even know what length the ball is being bowled. "So it's just predetermined rubbish. Watch the ball and play it instinctively off the track."
Labuschagne's superb catching has been a feature of the summer but his returns with the bat have again not been up to scratch. Labuschagne will need to make runs in Sydney to avoid his spot becoming available for Australia's next Test series.
Weatherald, who debuted in Perth when replacing Sam Konstas, could be on his final chance at the SCG. After impressing with 72 in Brisbane, the attacking left-hander has otherwise not performed with an average of just 20.85. Weatherald, who came in at no.3 in Australia's second innings due to Scott Boland opening as a nightwatchman, left a ball from England captain Ben Stokes that cannoned into the stumps.
When asked about Labuschagne and Green, stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith described batting as "not easy." "Marn got dropped, went back to Shield cricket and demanded selection, with a mountain of runs," Smith said.
"He probably hasn't had the output that he's wanted in the last couple. He played some really nice innings in the first two Tests. Greeny's had a few nice starts as well, just hasn't been able to go on with it and get the results he's been after. But he's a quality player, he's done it against some good oppositions in the past, and hopefully he can turn it around."
After running himself out on day one, Green again threw his wicket away in the second innings. The 26-year-old tried to guide a Stokes ball away into the off-side, but was caught at second slip in a soft way to get out.
Australia have relied heavily on Travis Head for runs during this series, with wicketkeeper Alex Carey starring in both innings in Adelaide.
^92 045 fans packed the mighty MCG on day two, second only behind the day one crowd of 94 199 for the largest attended day of cricket at the venue.
Alex Carey has scored 767 runs in 2025. It's the 12th-most prolific calendar year for a wicketkeeper and the best since Niroshan Dickwella's (Sri Lanka) 773 in 2017. Four of the 11 names above Carey are fellow Australian, Adam Gilchrist.
41 batters failed to reach 50 for the match – all of them. The highest score for the match was Travis Head's second innings of 46. You have to go back to Edgbaston in 1981 to find an Ashes Test where the whole match was completed without a half-century being scored.
It's been 39 years since an England batter has hit the winning runs in a Test in Australia. That was Chris Broad in Brisbane, 1986. The winning runs came via four leg byes, while all the seven wins in between came in either innings victories or with England defending a score.
England lasted 29.5 overs in their first innings, only the third time they've been dismissed inside 30 overs in Australia since 1904. Interestingly, when England have been bowled out in under 30 overs in their first innings (which has happened six times), they have a 4-2 winning record. Two of those were in 2019, which including that famous Ashes Test at Headingley.
Josh Tongue has a strike rate of 28.1 from his two Tests this series. It's the best bowling strike rate for an English bowler in Australia, ever (minimum 300 balls bowled). Brydon Carse (32.7) sits second having taken 19 wickets in his four Tests.
Mitchell Starc has taken 26 wickets in the series (so far). It makes the 2025-26 Ashes series the most prolific series of his career, going past the 24 scalps he took in the 2016 series in Sri Lanka.
It took 24.3 balls per wicket across the Test. That's the second-lowest in all Ashes matches. You have to go way back to Lord's 1888 (20.8) to find a clash where the bowlers had more regular success. For Tests in Australia, only the Australia versus South Africa Test in 1931-32 featured a lower bowling strike rate for the entire Test (22.6). You can find the full list here.
England have won 21 times at the MCG for England. The English have only had more success at the Sydney Cricket Ground with 22 wins in 57 matches, giving them a win percentage of 39%, slightly ahead of their Melbourne record (36 per cent). However, in the past 50 years it's the only Australian venue where they have registered five wins.
It took 19 matches for England to taste success in Australia. The tourists had a 0-16 scoreline in that period too, with two drawn Tests the only reprieve from Australia's dominance. After winning the final Test of the 2010-11 Ashes, they endured a 5-0 defeat in 2013-14; a 4-0 defeat in 2017-18; another 4-0 defeat in 2021-22 and a 3-0 deficit in this series. Joe Root featured in all of those matches, except for the final Test of the '13-14 summer.
Scott Boland has a Test bowling average of 17.85 after 18 Tests. It sits him in sixth spot on the all-time list for bowlers with at least 75 Test wickets. Boland took his 78th wicket in Melbourne, moving him past Damien Fleming, Tim May and Shane Watson and into 52nd spot on the Australian list.
Jacob Bethell was 7 when England last won a Test in Australia - he was born in October 2003.^
*Stats as per ESPNCricinfo
^Stats as per cricket.com.au
This Test match was certainly crazy. I wasn't expecting another two day match. I tend to agree with all the criticism. The classic Boxing Day Test shouldn't be that short. The pitch should've been prepared better. I'll be flabbergasted if Cameron Green is selected for the final Test. He is definitely a weak link in the team - both with bat and ball.