Some truly scintillating bowling from the Australian pace cartel, in combination with some utterly poor batting from the English line-up, has seen the Aussies claim the Boxing Day Test at the MCG by an innings and 14 runs within 3 days. The victory in Melbourne gives Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series, meaning they do retain the Ashes.
By Ethan Jones – Chief Sports Writer
Heading into Melbourne trailing 2-0 after heavy defeats in Brisbane, and under lights in Adelaide, England could only go one direction in Melbourne, knowing that another loss would essentially finish the series. In order to achieve this change, the English 11 contained a flurry of changes in both the batting and bowling units. Rory Burns’ time at the top came to an abrupt end, as Zak Crawley was brought in to open alongside Hameed, who had been struggling in his own right up to this point. Veteran squad member, Jonny Bairstow, came in for youngster Ollie Pope in the middle order. Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad made way for the return of spinner Jack Leach, who was left out of the Day-Night test, as was the final man to return, paceman Mark Wood.
Wood seemed to be the biggest inclusion, and perhaps the point of difference that England had been missing when compared with the brutality and sheer pace of the Australian pace unit. This unit, who had already dominated with the ball in Adelaide, welcomed back its leader and Captain, Pat Cummins, as well as Victorian cult hero, Scott Boland, who would make his Test Debut at the age of 32.
Day 1 – Familiar Beginnings.
Boxing Day morning saw large crowds flooding in to celebrate one of the biggest spectacles on the sporting calendar, whilst on the field, all conditions seemed to point towards a perfect day for bowling. As had been the case throughout the early stages of the series, the little bit of luck once again fell with the Aussies, as Cummins sent in Joe Root’s men to face the music first up.
Within the first two overs, it looked once again like England would have to it the tough way, as the skipper Cummins claimed Hameed for 0. Zak Crawley fresh into the side, looked solid in defense early, however the relentlessness of Cummins eventually found his outside edge, bring Joe Root to crease within 10 overs yet again. Similarly to many of England’s innings to begin the Ashes, Root and Malan began to stabilise the rough start from its openers, however just on the stroke of lunch, the ever reliable Cummins enticed Malan into a false shot leaving them at 3-61. Root continued to fight and resist the persistent attack, and found his way to 50 yet again, but once again, the captain could not push on to the elusive century that has escaped him in Australia, falling at the hands of Mitchell Starc.
From here, England continued to lose wickets periodically throughout the day, as Ben Stokes, who was searching to make his mark on the series, lifted a questionable cut stroke straight to Nathan Lyon at point, giving Cam Green his first wicket for the match. In what could only be described as comical in terms of the match situation, Jos Buttler found himself attacking Nathan Lyon in the final over before Tea, with the keeper holing out to Scott Boland in the deep, leaving England floundering at 6-128.
Shortly after the resumption, crowd favourite Boland claimed his first Test wicket by dismissing Mark Wood, while the rest of the tail fell cheaply, leaving England all out for 185. Needing to pounce early to get back into the contest, England was unable to take quick wickets in the final session, with the only success being the late scalp of David Warner for 38.
Day 2 – The last chance for redemption.
Day 2 would be the defining day for not just the series, and perhaps for the future of the England team. Fortunately, the bowling attack came to play, led by the always tremendous James Anderson. After Ollie Robinson claimed the nightwatchman Nathan Lyon relatively early, it was Anderson and Mark Wood who really made the Australian top order sweat. The sheer pace of Wood caught Labuschagne, the new Number One batter in the world, playing an uncharacteristic push which found the edge to Joe Root, dismissing Marnus for just one. This brought out the World Number 3 batter to the crease in Steve Smith, who fumbled his way to 16 before he was removed by Anderson, who was in the middle of a spell which conceded just one run from 6 overs. Just as England were clawing right back into the contest, Travis Head and Marcus Harris, who had been doing a superb job anchoring the innings which may well define his playing future, eased some of Australia’s pressure.
However, England persisted and removed both players in quick succession, Harris eventually falling for a well-made 76, leaving the Aussie tail with a bit to do to create some form of a lead. A few nice contributions, in particular from Starc and Cummins, took the Aussies well past England’s first innings, establishing an eighty-two run lead. Now in a similar situation to England the day prior, Australia had an hour to break into the English middle order, whilst England had only one mission: survive. In a passage of play that will go down in Ashes folklore, Australia, who had the support of 40,000 Melbournians behind them, put the sword to England in a way that has rarely been seen before. Set up beautifully by Pat Cummins and his line and length, Mitchell Starc had the license to bowl quick and use his angle to torment the English top order. In his third over, Starc found the edge of Crawley to dismiss the opener, and then followed up next ball by trapping Malan in front for 0, leaving the left-armer with a chance at a historic hat-trick.
The man that would face it, none other than Joe Root. As Starc steamed in with the force of thousands, he delivered an absolute seed that perhaps anyone other than Root may have nicked, but the captain survived. With less than a handful of overs to play, captain Cummins elected to hand the ball to Boland, who made an impact with his second ball, sending Hameed back to the pavilion for 7. Two balls later, an even larger roar was triggered with the removal of nightwatchman Jack Leach, who left one on to his off-stump. Poetically, it was Captain Joe Root down the other end watching the carnage occur, knowing it would be up to him yet again to revive the innings. England limped its way to 4-32 at Stumps, the Ashes all but faded away.
Day 3 – A whimper. A footnote.
The third morning began rather well for England, with some nice positive strokes from both Root and Stokes finding the fence, however another gem of a delivery from Starc saw Stokes’ castle knocked over for just 11. The beginning of the 23rd over had England reeling at 5-60, as the ball was once again handed to Boland. The next 30 minutes that were to come would be even more unfathomable than that last period of play on Day 2, which is just amazing to comprehend. Boland trapped Bairstow in front to grab Australia’s 6th and his third for the innings, and in his next over, the Victorian claimed the big scalp of Joe Root, all but ending any small glimmer of hope for the English team. It was in his next over, where Boland’s spell would become historically great and borderline ridiculous, as he claimed both Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson within three deliveries, leaving him with figures of 6-7 at the end of his fourth over. Cameron Green cleaned up James Anderson shortly after, as England were left bruised and embarrassed, all out for 68, Australia not required to bat again.
Post-match – Serendipity.
The Johnny Mullagh Medal, which is the Player of the Match medal that pays tribute to the great Wotjobaluk man who represented the Indigenous First XI side in 1868, was unsurprisingly handed to Scott Boland for his magnificent spell. The moment and presentation was even more significant, as Boland himself is a proud Indigenous man of the Gulidjan nation, joining the small club of Indigenous players who have ever donned the baggy green. In their speeches, the delighted Pat Cummins rightfully praised his bowlers, who have really stood up and put the team on their shoulders thus far, whilst a deflated Joe Root made no excuses, despite the obvious distractions brought upon by the COVID incident within the extended touring group, and pointed to the next two tests as chances to redeem something from the tour.
Will the Australians claim another 5-0 whitewash on home soil? Has England steered too far away from producing Test Cricketers? Let us know in the comments below!
Ethan Jones is the Chief Sports Writer at The Pioneer Australia. He has become the most-read writer at the site, covering an array of sports both locally and internationally.
Pioneer Australia 
Great article Ethan, Congrats 👍
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