The Boxing Day Ashes Test between Australia and England moved quickly on Day 1 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with a total of 20 wickets falling as bowlers from both sides thrived. The pitch provided plenty of help for the fast bowlers, with 10mm of grass making its presence felt while batters struggled.
The game began with England captain Ben Stokes winning the toss and choosing to bowl. Josh Tongue backed up the decision, taking five wickets and helping the visitors bowl out Australia for 152. Michael Neser was the top scorer for Australia, making 35 runs.
20 wickets falls on Boxing Day Ashes Day 1
England, who were 0-3 going into the 4th Test, hoped to finally take control in this Ashes Test of the 2025-26 series. Unfortunately, their batters again struggled, showing little fight and carelessly losing their wickets right from the start.
England’s batting innings began poorly. Stokes and his teammates found themselves at 16 for 4 at one point, with Ben Duckett (2), Jacob Bethell (1), Zak Crawley (5), and Joe Root (0) all heading back to the pavilion.
Harry Brook scored 41 runs off 34 balls, and Gus Atkinson added 28. Their contributions helped England reach just over 100 runs, cutting Australia’s lead to 42. For Australia, Neser claimed four wickets while Scott Boland took three.
Record Crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
The MCG saw a record crowd on the opening day of the 4th Test between Australia and England. A total of 94,199 fans attended on Friday, marking the highest turnout ever for a cricket match at the venue.
This 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, outdoing the 91,112 spectators who attended the MCG for Day 1 of the 2013 Boxing Day Test between Australia and England.
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