Ashes

If Smith’s recent lull has been unnerving, this knock featured all of his trademark quirks.

He stopped the game whenever a spectator sneezed within shouting distance of the sightscreen and twice he ended up flat on his back – once with his hands, feet and bat positioned above his head.

The rest of Sydney – crisp, pristine and dashed with pink – watched on as Smith eventually waved his bat with his shirt caked in dirt.

For one so great, Smith somehow manages to look ugly.

At another point, Smith berated himself for failing to hit part-time spinner Jacob Bethell for four.

“Ah Steve,” he said. “That’s awful, absolute throwdown.”

He showed Matthew Potts similar disdain when attempting to replicate Lleyton Hewitt’s forehand smash to a bouncer in the final hour.

In Potts’ next over he took it upon himself to hold his arms wide to signal a wide.

Smith – so often the butt of the jokes – has never seemed bothered about gaining the love of England fans.

“I don’t know I am doing it,” he said.

“When I am doing all of those things it probably means I am in a good zone.”

“You won’t see it in the textbook the way he plays,” added former Australia batter Mark Waugh.

“It has been a funny innings that has ebbed and flowed. At times frantic, then he looked like he was struggling to concentrate and got himself going.

“Talking to himself, gesturing, rolling on his back and stopping people at the top of the grandstands. He has got the job done.”

Bradman’s 5,028 Ashes runs and 19 centuries are surely beyond Smith but, though we know Khawaja’s career will end at the conclusion of this Test, further English pain dealt by the New South Welshman cannot be ruled out.

“He prides himself on his batting ability but also his leadership,” said fellow centurion Travis Head.

“That’s also a motivation to continue. While he’s enjoying it, he will hang around. I hope he’s here for a long time.”

When he walked off at The Oval on the final day of the 2023 Ashes, it felt like a goodbye. Smith has offered no such certainty.

“It’s a shame he’s [Khawaja] gone, now I’m the oldest one here,” Smith said before this Test.

“I want to keep playing, I’m still enjoying it. We’ve got a really good team.

“I’ve said for a while I’m taking it day by day, series by series and we’ll see where things land.

“I feel like I’m doing alright at the moment, I’m contributing and having fun so there’s no real end date for me.”

He may no longer be the relentless run-scorer of that 2017-18 series but with his latest Sydney showpiece, Smith showed he is not done frustrating England yet.

Root has been feast or famine in this series. Until this Test, his landmark century in Brisbane was one of only two occasions when he passed 20. In Sydney, the city where he was dropped for the only time in his Test career and once batted himself into hospital in extreme heat, the former captain was outstanding.

Without Root, England would have squandered their promising overnight position of 211-3. Harry Brook played a limp poke at Scott Boland to be caught at slip for 84 and Stokes edged a beauty from Mitchell Starc for an 11-ball duck, meaning the tourists lost 2-3 in four overs.

On one hand, Smith’s role in a stand of 94 with Root was valuable, but the wicketkeeper was fortunate to last so long. He was caught off a Cameron Green no-ball on 22, then edged and miscued the same bowler. The dismissal to Labuschagne’s bouncer plan as the second new ball approached was an appalling piece of cricket.

By this point, Root had moved to three figures from his overnight 72. After edging Neser over the slips on 94, he drove the same bowler down the ground to join Australia great Ricky Ponting on 41 Test tons – only India’s Sachin Tendulkar and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis have more. He celebrated with the same shrug of the shoulders he pulled in Brisbane.

On he went, adding 52 for the seventh wicket with Will Jacks. He passed 150 for the 17th time in Tests – only four other players have done so more.

Root eventually offered a leading edge to a diving Neser in the bowler’s follow-through, part of England’s final collapse of 4-9. After more than six and a half hours at the crease, he later left the field holding his lower back, and England face an anxious wait on his condition.

Jamie Smith gifts his wicket to Australia as he’s caught for 46 off the bowling of part-time bowler Marnus Labuschagne, as England fall to 323-6 just before lunch on day two of the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney.

FOLLOW LIVE: The Ashes fifth Test – day two

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Crawley began the Ashes series with a pair in the first Test in Perth, facing only 11 deliveries in the match.

Since then he has made scores of 76 and 44 in the second Test in Brisbane, and a battling 85 in the second innings of the third Test in Adelaide.

The Kent man’s 37 at the beginning of England’s run-chase in the fourth Test in Melbourne was vital to the tourists recording their first victory in Australia for 15 years and cutting the series deficit to 3-1.

“Zak Crawley frustrates the life out of me,” said Vaughan, who captained England to their famous Ashes triumph of 2005.

“His concentration levels are not the strongest. If you go to the start of the series where he played the big booming drives, those drives have gone away now. He’s not chasing the ball outside off stump.

“But today I was watching him and that should not get you out as a quality opening batter.”

In Sydney, Crawley returned to the ground where he made an impressive 77 in the fourth Test of England’s previous Ashes tour in 2021-22 – an innings that kickstarted his career.

He has now opened the batting in 103 Test innings and returned an average of 30.82 – the lowest of any batter in Test history to have as many opportunities at the top of the order.

But Vaughan, who made three centuries as an opener in England’s Ashes tour of 2002-03, believes England should persevere with Crawley in the aftermath of this latest series defeat in Australia.

“I hear fans around the world saying Crawley averages 30, but there’s a bigger average in him than he’s giving at the moment,” said Vaughan. “It’s just concentration.

“I know there is a lot more in the tank and I do think England have to stay with him.

“The movement he had today was fantastic but he needs to understand the concentration levels required at this kind of level to go on and average 40 to 45 over the course of the next two or three years.

“I think he could do if he can find that concentration.”

Joe Root and Harry Brook are denied the chance to improve on their 154-run partnership as bad light and rain cut day one of the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney short, leaving England on 211-3.

MATCH REPORT: The Ashes fifth Test – day one

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England have selected off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in a 12-man squad for the fifth Ashes Test against Australia in Sydney.

Bashir has not played in the first four matches despite starting the series as England’s first-choice spinner.

The 22-year-old missed out on the first Test after being named in a 12-man squad in Perth and has since been overlooked in favour of all-rounder Will Jacks.

Seamer Matthew Potts is also in the England XII, with the tourists guaranteed to make at least one change from the side that won the fourth Test in Melbourne after Gus Atkinson was ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, England usually name their XI two days out from a Test.

However, the tourists have opted to wait longer before the final match, which starts on Sunday (23:30 GMT Saturday), in order to assess conditions at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

On Thursday the pitch looked to have a thick covering of grass, but by Friday it was losing its green tinge.

Sydney usually offers assistance to slow bowlers. Three of the four leading Test wicket-takers at the venue are Australian spinners – Shane Warne, Stuart MacGill and Nathan Lyon.

But this Ashes has been dominated by seam bowling. So far only nine wickets have been taken by spinners, leaving it on track for the fewest taken by slow bowlers in an Ashes series of at least four Tests.

Australia omitted a spinner from their line-up for the fourth Test, which England won by four wickets in Melbourne to cut the series deficit to 3-1.

Now the hosts could include off-spinner Todd Murphy, while all-rounder Beau Webster may replace Cameron Green and also offers a spin option.

Alongside Steve Smith, Khawaja is one of two remaining members of the Australia team beaten by England in their last series win in this country in 2010-11.

Khawaja has made 6,206 Test runs at an average of 43.39, with 16 hundreds.

He needs 30 runs in his final Test to go above Mike Hussey into 14th on Australia’s all-time run-scorers list, just behind the great Donald Bradman in 13th.

Khawaja played the last of his 40 one-day internationals in July 2019, having scored 1,554 runs at 42. He played in nine T20 internationals, scoring 241 runs at 26.77.

Now playing domestically for Queensland, Khawaja will end his career on the ground that was his home when he first played professional cricket for New South Wales in 2008.

Often in and out of the Australia team across his Test career, he found a home at the top of the order during the previous home Ashes in 2021-22.

However, his place came under scrutiny during this series after he suffered back spasms in the first Test that prevented him from opening.

Travis Head took Khawaja’s place in the second innings and made a swashbuckling century to lead Australia to an eight-wicket win.

Khawaja subsequently missed the second Test with the back problem and was due to be left out of the third, only to receive a late call-up when Steve Smith fell ill.

He made scores of 82 and 40 in Adelaide to retain his place in the fourth Test.

After the Ashes Australia will not play another Test until August, by which time Khawaja will be almost 40.

Australia lead the current Ashes series 3-1. The final Test starts on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday).

Smith has been England’s one-day opener in their past nine matches, though has not played a T20 since June. The 25-year-old struggled in the one-dayers in New Zealand that preceded the Ashes, then has managed only one half-century in eight innings in Australia.

In contrast, 28-year-old Tongue has been England’s breakout star of the Ashes, claiming 12 wickets in his two Tests. He is in the squad for the T20s and not the ODIs.

Cox, the leading run-scorer in last year’s Hundred, can feel unfortunate to miss out. Tom Banton gets the nod as middle-order batting cover.

Duckett is in both squads despite a difficult Ashes and looks set to bring his Test opening partnership with Crawley to one-day internationals as England look for a combination that can build towards the 50-over World Cup.

Crawley has played eight one-day internationals, the last of which in West Indies in December 2023 was also his last List A game.

Root, who turns 35 on Tuesday, would have been a potential candidate to rest after the Ashes, yet travels to Sri Lanka for the ODIs only. His next cricket would then likely come in the home summer.

All-rounder Jacks missed the tour of New Zealand as he recovered from a broken finger and returns to both squads as one of a number of spin options in the subcontinental conditions.

Jacks joins Adil Rashid, Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed and Bethell in the slow-bowling ranks.

Along with Nepal, England join West Indies, Bangladesh and tournament debutants Italy in Group C of the T20 World Cup. All of their matches take place in Kolkata and Mumbai.

If Brook’s men finish in the top two, they would progress to a second-round group that could include New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The top two from that group advance to the semi-finals.

Jacob Bethell said he wants to remain England’s number three but admitted he has “a lot more to do” to make the position his own.

The 22-year-old was recalled for the fourth Ashes Test and made a crucial 40 in the second innings as England won by four wickets to end an 18-match winless streak in Australia.

Bethell had never batted higher than number four in first-class cricket until he had three Tests for England at number three in New Zealand last year.

The left-hander played only three first-class matches in 2025 before replacing Ollie Pope for the Boxing Day Test.

His impressive 40 actually came at number four after England promoted Brydon Carse as a pinch-hitter in the second-innings run chase of 175. Now Bethell will get the opportunity to stake a claim for a long run in the team in the final Ashes Test in Sydney.

“I like three,” he said. “You come in when the ball is new and in some scenarios the ball’s going all over the shop, but in other scenarios it presents opportunities to score when bowlers are trying to take wickets and the field is attacking there’s loads of gaps.

“I’ve still got a lot more to do to call it my position.”

Bethell’s selection in Melbourne was the culmination of year-long speculation over Pope’s position at number three.

After impressing with three half-centuries in New Zealand last December, Bethell’s international progress was hampered by an injury, a stint at the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Pope’s good form at the start of the home summer.

The Warwickshire man made his first professional century in a one-day international against South Africa in September. Following the Ashes, he will be part of England’s white-ball plans in the new year then will return to the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

It could mean Bethell’s next first-class cricket following the tour of Australia is England’s first Test of the home summer against New Zealand in June.

“I’m not thinking too far ahead yet,” said Bethell. “Hopefully next week in Sydney and then we’ve got a lot of cricket to play before next summer.”

Asked about securing the number three spot, he said: “I would like to. I would like to just nail down any role in the team. If you’re in the XI and contributing to winning I’m pretty happy with that.”

While a 3-2 defeat would clearly read a lot better for England than 4-1, it would be even more frustrating in many ways because it would only add to a feeling of what could have been.

England could have won this series given the Australia XIs they have been up against and the situations they have been in, had they been stronger mentally and better tactically.

They cannot think like that going into the next Test, of course.

Even if a 3-2 scoreline would frustrate, it may save jobs when the review does come after this series with a win even more important for the coaching staff than the players.

These players are good – the likes of Harry Brook, whose talent is exceptional, or Zak Crawley, whose innings in the second innings in Adelaide should give him a template for the future.

I would hate for them to be thrown out in an upheaval.

England showing they have adapted and learned from the mistakes made in Perth and Brisbane would reflect the work done by the coaching staff.

That is important going forward.

In contrast, I hope Australia are hurting after defeat in Melbourne and use that to spur them on.

They have played so well to get to this point, coping impressively with captain Pat Cummins, fellow frontline bowler Josh Hazlewood, spinner Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith all missing at times.

They have done the important bit in winning the series but you do not want to take your foot off the gas.

Was Cummins rested for Melbourne because there are genuine fitness concerns? If so, that is fine but this is still an Ashes series. You have to put a high price on every Test match.

Jake Weatherald needs a score to secure his future, having failed to pass 20 in any of his past four innings.

All-rounder Cameron Green will come under pressure for his place from Beau Webster after his poor run, though I still think he will have an amazing career when he settles back into Test cricket following his injury absence, and I am surprised Usman Khawaja has not already announced this will be his final Test aged 39.

I retired after the Sydney Test of the 2006-07 series, along with Shane Warne and Justin Langer. Damien Martyn also called time on his career earlier in the series.

Warney and I spoke about the prospect of retiring before the Perth Test, at which point we were 2-0 up. The last thing we wanted to do was make an announcement while the series was still live.

Our win in Perth, when Adam Gilchirst scored an incredible hundred, allowed us to announce our decisions but that only placed even more importance on the next two Tests.

The fact we finished in such a dominant fashion is something I am really proud of.

There was never any talk about dead rubbers and there should not be now.

As ever, the Sydney Test will be a special occasion for me and my family.

This will be the 18th ‘Pink Test’ where we raise money in the name of my late wife Jane and last year we broadened the reach of the foundation to cover all types of cancer as well as breast cancer.

It can be emotional but is an occasion unique in sport given the scale – one that I view as a celebration of life.

I just hope we have more than two days of play this time…

Gus Atkinson has become the third England pace bowler to be ruled out of the Ashes series after confirmation he will miss the final Test against Australia in Sydney.

Atkinson suffered an injury to his left hamstring on the second and final morning of England’s win in the fourth Test in Melbourne.

The tourists will not call up a replacement, leaving Matthew Potts in line to play in the fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday (23:30 GMT on Saturday).

Atkinson joins Mark Wood and Jofra Archer in failing to complete the series because of injuries. All three were in England’s first-choice XI for the first Test in Perth.

Wood has not played since Perth because of a knee issue, while Archer was ruled out after three Tests because of a side strain.

Surrey’s Atkinson struggled in the first two Tests, managing only three wickets, and was subsequently left out of the third.

The 27-year-old looked nearer his best when he was recalled for the fourth Test, taking three wickets and making 28 with the bat in England’s first innings.

He grabbed his left hamstring at the end of the fourth over of his spell on the second morning and immediately left the field. Atkinson played no further part as England completed a four-wicket win later the same day.

There is no confirmation on when he will return to the UK, at which point he will be assessed further. Earlier this year Atkinson spent two months out with an injury to his right hamstring.

Atkinson’s absence leaves Durham’s Potts in line to add his to his 10 Test caps and make an Ashes debut.

The 27-year-old has not played a Test match since the defeat by New Zealand in Hamilton last December.

A regular in the first summer of the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum era, Potts has made sporadic appearances over the past two years. His previous seven caps have come against six different opponents.

This is not the first time the Melbourne pitch for an Ashes Test has been criticised. In the drawn match of 2017, the surface did not offer enough assistance for the bowlers, resulting in a dull contest.

Only 24 wickets fell across the match as England’s Alastair Cook piled on an unbeaten 244.

Melbourne Cricket Club chief executive Stuart Fox explained there had been a review of pitches since then, and Page gave details of the surfaces used for recent Tests.

Some MCG pitches have had longer grass than the 10mm for this year’s contest, while last year’s match between Australia and India was played on a pitch that had 7mm of grass and went into the fifth day.

This year, Page opted for 10mm of grass because of the hot weather forecast for what was scheduled to be the closing stages of the Test. Temperatures of 32C are forecast for Monday, the fourth day.

After almost 190,000 spectators were inside the MCG for the opening two days, day three was also a sell-out. There was the potential for the all-time Ashes attendance record to be broken.

CA are not insured for the loss of revenue from this Test. The A$10m figure is significant, but does not have a huge impact on a forecast A$600m revenue in the financial year.

Fox revealed there were discussions about players returning on day three for an exhibition match in order to satisfy ticket-holders and broadcasters. It is understood those conversations did not progress far enough to be raised with the England team.

“There were alternatives discussed,” he said. “There was talk of players coming out and having a hit, but that didn’t get up.”

Fox said he had “full faith” in Page and believes he is the best groundsman in Australia.

“We’re obviously disappointed the Test has finished in two days,” said Fox. “We didn’t plan for this and we didn’t want this to happen. It’s challenging times for us.

“This pitch has clearly favoured the bowlers and hasn’t given the batters a good opportunity to get set. What it demonstrates is the fine margins Matt and his team are dealing with.

“We do understand the impact this has had on the fans and Cricket Australia. I’ve got all the faith in the world in Matt and his team.”

Fox also confirmed that perishable food due to be used at the Boxing Day Test will be donated to a local charity.

Prior to the Test, stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith described the pitch as “furry and green” and said “batters would have to be on their game”.

Speaking after his side were beaten, Smith said he was “not sure” why MCG head groundsman Matthew Page had opted to leave so much grass on the pitch for the Boxing Day Test – a marquee event in the Australian sporting calendar. Page will talk to the media on Sunday.

“We let them judge it and do what they see fit,” said Smith.

“I said before the game it looked like it was going to offer a fair amount and it probably did more than we thought it was going to.

“It’s tough as a groundsman, always looking for the right balance. Maybe if he took it from 10mm to eight it would have been a nice, challenging wicket, maybe a little bit more even. Groundsmen are always learning and maybe he’ll take something from that.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan had criticised the MCG pitch after day one and said it had “done too much” and the result was an “unfair” contest between bat and ball.

Pitches and outfields that have hosted international matches are given a rating by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Following the 2017 Ashes Test on this ground, the MCG pitch was given a “poor” rating for being too friendly for batting. Only 24 wickets fell across the entire Test and England’s Alastair Cook made an unbeaten 244.

On this occasion, England batter Joe Root, who also played in 2017, said this pitch was “challenging” to bat on.

“The argument is was it too one-sided – bat v ball? People are more qualified to judge that,” said Root. “It was certainly challenging from my point of view.

“You have a world-class attack and the ball is moving a considerable amount. Your job is to get on the right side of the result.”

England captain Ben Stokes says he is proud of the way his players “held firm” to win the fourth Ashes Test after a wave of criticism during the build-up to the match.

A failure to capitalise on good positions after they surrendered the Ashes inside only 11 days of cricket, questions over their preparation and attitude, plus off-the-field issues related to drinking are among the headlines to have blighted the tour.

But a pulsating four-wicket victory in the space of two days in Melbourne, in front of jubilant travelling supporters, meant England avoided the prospect of an Ashes clean sweep.

Stokes said he was “very proud” of the way his side reacted to secure victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, ending an 18-match winless streak in Australia.

“On the back of everything we had to deal with in this game, I couldn’t be prouder of the way we held firm as a group and as individuals as well,” Stokes told Test Match Special.

“You get tested as leaders within sporting teams and organisations in different ways.

“That was a test of character, a test of qualities of leadership. The way we went about it, not only in public, in terms of all the media and all that sort of stuff.”

Stokes said there was no sense from his players they had been distracted by the extra scrutiny following their controversial mid-series break in Noosa.

He said: “Behind the scenes, it was important that everyone’s focus was on the cricket.

“It would have been so easy to put our focus and attention on all that stuff outside the dressing room. At the end of the day, the most important thing is what we need to do out there.

“I thought the way we bowled this week was exceptional, the way we went about that run-chase was exceptional.”

Stokes said his side are now determined to end the series with another victory in the fifth and final Test in Sydney, which starts on 3 January [23:30 GMT, 2 January].

“It is a very proud moment knowing how tough this tour has been and how everything has gone before this tour coming here,” Stokes added.

“So to get that win in over a long period of time we have been waiting for is pretty pleasing.

“We still have one more to go, and the focus has not moved away from that. We had two games, and we want to get two results go our way.”

Brydon Carse takes two wickets in three deliveries, as Michael Neser and Mitchell Starc are both dismissed for a duck to leave Australia 121-9 on day two of the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne.

FOLLOW LIVE: The Ashes fourth Test – day two

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Gus Atkinson added to England’s injury problems when he left the field on the second morning of the fourth Ashes Test against Australia.

Pace bowler Atkinson felt his left hamstring after the final ball of the fourth over he bowled on Saturday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

England said the 27-year-old felt some “soreness” and would spend time off the field in order to be assessed “over the next few hours”.

The final Test of the series in Sydney begins on Sunday, 4 January (23:30 GMT on 3 January).

England have already lost fast bowlers Mark Wood to a knee injury and Jofra Archer to a side strain on this Ashes tour.

Matthew Fisher was called up as cover for Wood. Fisher and Matthew Potts are the two England seamers yet to feature in the series.

Atkinson struggled in the opening two Tests of the tour, managing only three wickets.

He was left out of the third Test in Adelaide, then recalled for the Boxing Day match in Melbourne as Archer’s replacement.

Surrey’s Atkinson improved at the MCG, taking two wickets in Australia’s first innings, then making 28 with the bat as one of just three England players to reach double figures.

After bowling one over in Australia’s second innings at the end of the first day, he returned on Saturday morning and had nightwatchman Scott Boland caught behind.

However, at the end of the fifth over of his spell, he bowled a slower ball to Travis Head and immediately felt for his hamstring.

Atkinson left the field and was replaced by substitute Ollie Pope.

Travis Head gets a higher pitched Brydon Carse delivery wrong as the Australian batter is bowled for 46 runs to leave his side 82-4, with a lead of 124, on day two of the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne.

FOLLOW LIVE: The Ashes fourth Test – day two

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Ben Stokes punishes Jake Weatherald’s decision not to play his delivery, as the ball nips back inside before hitting the off stump as Australia fall to 40-2 on day two of the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne.

FOLLOW LIVE: The Ashes fourth Test – day two

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England’s Ashes tour teetered on another crisis as they were bowled out for 110 by Australia on an almost farcical first day of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The 20 wickets to fall is the most on the opening day of an Ashes Test since 1909 and surpassed the 19 of the first day of the first Test of this series in Perth.

Steve Smith, standing-in as Australia captain, said the 10mm long grass on the pitch would mean batters had to be “on their game” in the Boxing Day Test.

Smith was right. His side were hustled out for 152, then England were decimated in a single session after tea.

There was still time for Australia to face one over of their second innings before the close, only the third time in Test history the third innings of the match has begun on day one. The hosts are 4-0, leading by 46 runs.

Perth was the first two-day Ashes Test in 104 years. Melbourne could be the second in the space of five weeks.

The havoc of the evening made England’s improved performance with ball and in the field a distant memory. Pace bowler Josh Tongue was excellent in claiming 5-45.

But England were bowling again before the end of the day as their batting was flattened in 29.5 overs.

England were 8-3 and 16-4. Harry Brook’s dance, swipe and miss at Mitchell Starc from his first ball seemed witless in the moment, yet it was Brook’s audacity that kept England from a complete implosion.

Brook swatted 41, including two sixes. Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were the only other men to reach double figures.

Michael Neser claimed four wickets, Scott Boland three, with the silliness of the day summed up by Boland then opening the batting as nightwatchman.

There was an element of fortune to start. Travis Head dragged on to Gus Atkinson and Jake Weatherald was strangled down the leg side by Josh Tongue.

But then the latter’s skillful knack of snaffling wickets came to the fore as he bagged two of Australia’s dogged top order.

Marnus Labuschagne received a full delivery from Tongue angled into the stumps and edged to slip, before the same bowler snared Steve Smith with one which nipped to bowl him through the gate.

Michael Neser and Scott Boland followed to Tongue in consecutive deliveries – bowled by a nip-backer and caught at second slip respectively.

CricViz’s stats showed Tongue finished with 5-21 off the 24 deliveries that he pitched in the area of the pitch classed as full (3-6m).

In the ball-tracking era, only one English seamer (before Tongue today) has ever picked up five wickets from a full length in a Test innings.

That was a memorable effort by Stuart Broad at Trent Bridge in 2015.

Tongue’s pace dropped from an average of 86.7 mph in Adelaide to 85.3 mph in Melbourne. This looked and felt more like the ‘Redditch Rhythmist’, rather than the ‘Redditch Rocket’.

“It was a case of pressure really: good constant pressure and Australia couldn’t get away. England bowled how Australia did on that very hot day in Adelaide,” Tufnell added.

“You could get behind the bowling unit and clap them instead of being carved through gully. We have bowled too short all series until today but that was a good performance.

“There were a few overheads too, a few clouds, but they put it in good areas. I am delighted for Josh Tongue, he’s been the pick, without doubt. It was excellent bowling.”

England bowled full, and as their bowlers put their feet up between innings their glasses – whatever the tipple – must have been a little more than half full.

Even if their respite was shorter than they might have liked.

England’s innings gets off to a horror start, as Australia take three early wickets to leave the visitors on 8-3 inside the first five overs on day one of the foruth Ashes Test in Melbourne.

FOLLOW LIVE: The Ashes fourth Test – day one

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My best Christmas on tour was in South Africa in 2015. The Boxing Day Test was the opening match of the series and it was going to be highly competitive. South Africa were still packed with big guns and we had just won the Ashes the previous summer.

I’d had a few months out with a stress fracture to the ball of my foot and it felt like a Christmas present when I proved myself fit enough to join the squad in Durban.

In contrast to that Australia tour five years earlier, I knew if I was fit I was going to play. It’s what I loved about the time England were coached by Trevor Bayliss. I felt as though he really believed in me and trusted me to be myself as a bowler. Even though I had an idea I would be playing, it was still a lovely feeling when the captain gave the nod, as Alastair Cook did that Christmas Day.

There was no bursting into tears in the toilets, just a calm, enjoyable Christmas on the seafront in Durban. It didn’t really feel like Christmas because it was hot and I was contemplating how I was going to bowl to Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and the rest the following day. I was far more content, even if I did have the prospect of facing Dale Steyn in my unenviable role as nightwatchman, which would ruin anyone’s peaceful Christmas.

I had no family travelling with me and I enjoyed Christmas lunch with the other guys who were in the same boat, then slid off to my room to relax, before hopefully watching us win the toss and bowling first on a spicy looking pitch. Now, that’s a real Christmas present.

We actually lost the toss, but won the Test by 241 runs. I got one of my favourite wickets in my career, a lifter to Faf Du Plessis on the fourth evening, just as he was providing significant rearguard. It felt like a degree of redemption for my previous Christmas letdowns.

Christmas on tour really does become like another Test week. I would always feel for the guys with families having to navigate this time of year. Balancing life between being a father, a husband, an international cricketer and Father Christmas must be tough.

Having family there does provide a degree of balance, which can be a great escape when you’re on a long tour. But explaining to a four-year-old why it’s not snowing and how Santa knows you’re not going to be at home is something I’d always leave to the guys with children.

As I settle down on this festive period, ready to eat my body weight in whatever is laid in front of me, I’ll be thinking of all the cricketers out there preparing to play a game the next day.

The nerves, excitement and disappointments are all part of being a sportsperson. It just so happens it is Christmas Day, too.